Château D'Death
by Yuuki Itsuka
Summary: There are tragedies happening all around the world. One in particular happens in a certain Castle in a certain island around the coast of Marseille. Within the halls of that Castle a tragedy of Despair and Betrayal occurs. Will Trust and Hope win? (Spin-off to Crit Fail's Legacy of Despair series) (SYOC Closed)
1. Chapter 1

"So this is the place?" a figure asked another. They stood in front of a large castle

"Yep! Château D'Death!" the companion excitedly exclaimed.

"This is a castle though not a château."

"Who cares about that tiny detail?"

"I get a feeling that one of them will make a comment on that."

"I don't care."

"Sigh…..so how are they?"

"Still sleeping like a baby."

"I see."

"*Giggle* I can't wait! I'm so excited!"

"The Château D'Death Killing Game will now begin!"

"It's a castle though not a—."

"Oh shush!"

**[Authors' Note]**

**Jumping late on Danganronpa SYOC bandwagon right now. So yeah, this is a spin-off for the Legacy of Despair series by Crit Fail. Please PM me the submissions of your OCs, do not put them in the review section.**

**The deadline of the Submissions is at the end of May. This Killing Game begins at April 15 2020 within the timeline.**

**This story is going to be rather dark so prepare yourselves.**

**Note: The cast will be from different schools, so they may display Ultimates in the [Submitted Characters] but they will be changed in the story.**

**Note #2: The Submissions have been closed and the cast is complete**

**[Character Sheet]**

**Full Name:**

**Gender:**

**Age:**

**Birthday:**

**Nationality:**

**Talent:**

**Sexuality:**

**Hair Color, length, and style:**

**Eye color:**

**Skin tone:**

**Clothes:**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks:**

**Height:**

**Weight:**

**Accessories:**

**Personality:**

**Background:**

**Habits and Mannerisms:**

**Likes:**

**Dislikes:**

**Secrets: (Anything they don't want others to find out?)**

**Motivation for Killing: (what will drive them to the edge)**

**Role: (Mastermind/Survivor/Protagonist/Victim/Blackened)**

**Reaction (Killing Game):**

**Reaction (Body):**

**Reaction (Accused):**

**FTE: (What things to explore about your OC)**

**Quotes:**

**Introduction:**

**Romance: (If you want your character to have some romance with the others)**

**Song: (Optional)**

**[Submitted Characters]**

**01\. Kazuma Asahi [Ultimate Electronic Musician] (Creator: StoryProducer214)**

**02\. Kenta Matsuzaki [Ultimate Event Planner] (Creator: MudkipOfDespair)**

**03\. Johnny Reed [Ultimate Country musician] (Creator: ShinyOshawottKing1)**

**04\. John Puckett [Ultimate Baker] (Creator: Sparten2121)**

**05\. Tohka Yayoi [Ultimate Kenjutsu Practitioner] (Creator: Umidaru Sakamichi)**

**06\. Cibor Lignitzer [Ultimate Catch Wrestler] (Creator: runicwolf)**

**07\. Kira Amamiya [Ultimate Ninja] (Creator: gamergirl101)**

**08\. Klara Lantsov [Ultimate Mekhanizm] (Creator: McLogal)**

**09\. Vader Phoenix [Ultimate Vigilante] (Creator: NSPunny)**

**10\. Haruka Hanasagewa [Ultimate Florist] (Creator: Yuuki Itsuka)**

**11\. Dominique "Dom" Stuhr [Ultimate Dumpster Diver] (Creator: Gremblo)**

**12\. Genjiro Hattori [Ultimate Escape Artist] (Creator: Prince PokePersona)**

**13\. Antinea Romilly [Ultimate Libero] (Creator: RioA)**

**14\. Nemesis Noir [Ultimate Mafia Boss] (Creator: Kazegami)**

**15\. Alistair Delon [Ultimate Reverend] (Creator: NewbieFanficter)**

**16\. Alissa Barnum [Ultimate Ringmaster] (Creator: NewbieFanficter)**

**17\. Julian Trapaze [Ultimate Acrobat] (Creator: NewbieFanficter)**

**18\. Sayuki Narada [Ultimate Actress] (Creator: 1Glimmershine)**

**19\. Kira Petrove [Ultimate Mountain Climber] (Creator: Crit Fail)**

**20\. David "Dave" Hayes [Ultimate Bassist] (Creator: Quartzz)**

**21\. Priscilla Dentyne [Ultimate Chocolatier] (Creator: The Celestial Sky Dragon)**

**22\. ****Naomi 'Nao' Yamazaki [Ultimate Enigmatologist] (Creator: Abitat Eco)**

**23\. Hanza Shinpi [Ultimate Crime Scene Investigator] (Creator: TrueDespairBot123)**

**24\. ****Yu Yoshi [Ultimate Assassin] (Creator: pokemansuperallstar)**

**[Accepted OCs (Males: 7/7, Females: 8/8)]:**

**Student Number 01:**

**Full Name: Haruka Hanasagewa**

**Gender: Female**

**Age: 16**

**Birthday: December 19****th**

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Florist**

**Hair Color, length, and style: Black hair tied in a side pony tail.**

**Eye color: Pinkish**

**Skin tone: fair**

**Appearance: Haruka wears a white shirt and a brown cardigan. She also wears a black skirt and tights. She wears wooden sandals on her feet.**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: none**

**Height: 4'7 ft.**

**Weight: 89.5 lbs**

**Accessories: She wears a red scarf. She also wears a heart shaped locket on her neck though it's hidden by her scarf.**

**School: World Institute of Talent**

**Creator: Yuuki Itsuka**

* * *

**Student Number 02:**

**Full Name: Kazuma Asahi  
**

**Gender: Male  
**

**Age: 17  
**

**Birthday: June 7****th**

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Electronic Musician**

**Hair Color, length, and style: Short and messy brown hair with bangs that nearly cover his right eye.**

**Eye color: Green**

**Skin tone: Fair**

**Appearance: Kazuma wears a blue-checkered hoodie over a plain black t-shirt, gray jeans, and white sneakers.**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: None**

**Height: 5'8 ft.**

**Weight: 127 lbs**

**Accessories: He wears green headphones on his head, which covers his ears.**

**School: Hopes Peak Academy**

**Creator: StoryProducer214**

* * *

**Student Number 03:**

**Full Name: Tohka Yayoi**

**Gender: Female**

**Age: 17**

**Birthday: December 31****st**

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Kenjutsu Practitioner **

**Hair Color, length, and style: Shoulder length bright yellow hair that is tied into a bun.**

**Eye color: Red**

**Skin tone: Fair**

**Appearance: Black kimono with sakura patterns. She wears black sandals on her feet. She carries around a shinai within a black case.**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: none.**

**Height: 5'01 ft.**

**Weight: 94.8 lbs**

**Accessories: king piece hairpin on the right side of her hair**

**School: Victoria Academy for the Gifted**

**Creator: Umidaru Sakamichi**

* * *

**Student Number 04:**

**Full Name: Nemesis Noir**

**Gender: Female**

**Age: 18**

**Birthday: January 01****st**

**Nationality: Italian**

**Talent: Mafia Boss**

**Hair Color, length, and style: dark red bob cut hair with a braid on the left side.**

**Eye color: Black**

**Skin tone: Pale**

**Appearance: Nemesis wears a black coat over a black waistcoat. She wears black pants and a black slip on shoes. She has a white dress shirt under her black waistcoat and a black bow tie. She wears black gloves with the crest of the Mafia.**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: A scar on her chin.**

**Height: 4'11 ft.**

**Weight: 94.9 lbs.**

**Accessories: A black fedora and red scarf.**

**School: ****Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles**

**Creator: Kazegami**

* * *

**Student Number 05:**

**Full Name: Kenta Matsuzaki**

**Gender:Male**

**Age:18**

**Birthday: April 22****nd **

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Event Organizer**

**Hair Color, length, and style: Kenta wears his short, black hair in a well-kept trim, with no bangs and only a bit of hair on his neck.**

**Eye color: Green**

**Skin tone: Fair, though slightly tanned.**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: None**

**Height: 6'1 ft.**

**Weight: 156 lbs**

**Appearance: Kenta wears a blue suit-jacket over a white undershirt with a green tie, as well as grey dress pants and black dress shoes.**

**Accessories: None**

**School: Mikado Academy**

**Creator: MudkipOfDespair**

* * *

**Student Number 06:**

**Full Name: Kira Petrov**

**Gender: Female**

**Age: 15**

**Birthday: January 13****th**

**Nationality: Russian**

**Talent: Mountain Climber**

**Hair Color, length, and style: She has wild chin length raven hair that is quite messy, with a few bangs that resemble ahoge's sticking up when she's not wearing her coat.**

**Eye color: Pale Blue**

**Skin tone: Ivory**

**Clothing: She typically wears several layers. With a pale blue fur coat with wool lining in the insides. She typically keeps the hood drawn up and is prone to wearing her coat even indoors. It's sort of her shell to hide in. However if she is caught outside of her coat, she wears a long black sweatshirt, Blue Denim jeans, brown hiking boots for shoes, white socks, brown fingerless gloves on her hands and a pair of ski goggles on her head.**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: She has several brutal scars on her stomach and side from where she was mauled by a bear. **

**Height: 5'10**

**Weight: 140 lbs**

**Accessories: She carries an oversized waterproof backpack that is filled with rations, a canteen, flares, a lantern, kindling and a firestarter, a first aid kit, and a compass. She also carries a pickaxe that hangs off of her leather belt.**

**School: Versailles Academy**

**Creator: Crit Fail**

* * *

**Student Number 07:**

**Full Name: Kira Amamiya**

**Gender: Female**

**Age: 16**

**Birthday: April 15th**

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Ninja**

**Hair Color, length, and style: stylish short pixie cut black hair**

**Eye color: brown**

**Skin tone: fair**

**Clothing: Traditional black ninja attire**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: Tattoo of a dragon on her back**

**Height: 5'4 ft.**

**Weight: 130 lbs.**

**Accessories: ninja stars, katana, dragon necklace around her neck**

**School: ****Mochizuki Premier Academy**

**Creator: gamergirl101**

* * *

**Student Number 08:**

**Full Name: Genjiro Hattori**

**Gender: Male**

**Age: 17**

**Birthday: November 04th**

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Escape Artist**

**Hair Color, length, and style: He has silvery black, medium length hair that is originally dark black with streaks of grey spread throughout his hair, it's spiked up in the front with some hair fashioned into a short curly ponytail that rests on the left shoulder.**

**Eye color: Red**

**Body Type: An athletic body with toned muscles and prominent abs**

**Skin tone: A light tan complexion**

**Clothing: He wears a dark red fukumen (ninja face mask) that covers his mouth and nose, a black uwagi (ninja jacket) with sleeves cut short, dark red tekoh (ninja gloves) on both of his hands with dark white bandages wrapped around his wrists and arms, a black hakama (ninja pants), a white belt wrapped around his jacket, a light grey T-shirt underneath his uwagi that has a design of ninja stars covered in blood on the front and black kanji reading 'Stealth' covered in blood underneath the stars, dark red kyahan (leg wraps) used to keep his pants in place, white tabi (ninja socks) with dark brown waraji (hemp sandals) on his feet.**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: A birthmark shaped like a ninja star on right shoulder and a few scars on his wrists and some small scars on his legs and back.**

**Height: 6 ft.**

**Weight: 150 lbs.**

**Accessories: Two ninja swords strapped behind his back with handles covered in red and white tape, and a dark brown beaded cross necklace around his neck**

**School: Mochizuki Premier Academy **

**Creator: Prince PokePersona**

* * *

**Student Number 09:**

**Name: Priscilla Dentyne**

**Nickname: Ella **

**Gender: Female **

**Age: 18 **

**Date of Birth: January 17th **

**Home country: Little Rock, Kansas**

**Talent: Chocolatier**

**Appearance: Priscilla has light colored skin, almost pale in color. She is rather tall for a young woman, being around 5 feet 10 inches in height. She has long orange hair, usually kept around the neck. Though she has let it grow out. She has caramel colored eyes, a small nose and full lips, with a soft face.**

**Hair color/style: She has long orange hair, normally kept at a bob around her neck. She has let it grow out, now it reaches the middle of her back. She wears it in a half braid, held with a chocolate brown ribbon. She has a small braid off the side of her head, which she usually pins on the side of her head, and decorates with small beads. **

**Eye Color: Caramel**

**Skin Tone: Pale, light peach**

**Body Type: She has a healthy body type, with an hour glass figure and medium sized chest, being around C-cups, almost pushing D's. She has a medium sized butt, usually hidden by her dress.**

**Birthmarks, scars or tattoos: She has an eagle tattooed on her collar bone, above her chest.**

**Height: 5'10 ft.**

**Weight: 130 lbs.**

**Outfits: Priscilla wears a sleeveless chocolate brown JSK Dress. It had small squares printed around it, lined with bold brown lines, looking like chocolate bars. Each square contained a chocolate donuts within, along with small chocolate kisses and cinnamon sticks. She wears light brown leggings, stuffed into pastel brown colored Mary-Jane Shoes. She wears brown leather gloves on her hands, and also has a matching top hat, adorned with a white rose on the brim.**

**Jewelry/Accessories: A golden pendant around her neck in the shape of heart, embedded with chocolate diamonds.**

**School:**** Hope Hills Preparatory Academy**

**Creator: The Celestial Sky Dragon**

* * *

**Student Number 10:**

**Full Name: David "Dave" Hayes**

**Gender: Male**

**Age: 17**

**Birthday: November 11th**

**Nationality: British**

**Talent: Bassist**

**Hair Color, length, and style: Short unkempt black hair**

**Eye color: Dark Brown**

**Skin tone: Dark**

**Clothing: Wears a black open coat with a white t-shirt underneath that has several abstract grey lines on it with light grey sweatpants and grey sneakers.**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: none**

**Height: 5'4 ft.**

**Weight: 154 lbs.**

**Accessories: some leather bracelets**

**School: ****Great Bright Sky High School**

**Creator: Quartzz**

* * *

**Student Number 11:**

**Full Name: John Puckett **

**Gender: Male**

**Age: 17**

**Birthday: August 12th**

**Nationality:American **

**Talent: Baker**

**Hair Color, length, and style:he has long brown messy curly hair that goes to his ears **

**Eye color:Brown**

**Skin tone:Fair**

**Appearance:He has a black buttoned up shirt and then jeans and brown sneakers and then he wears a apron over his clothes and he also has mittons which look the same inside out as well and he also wears black glasses.**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks:none**

**Height: 5'10 ft.**

**Weight: 136 lbs.**

**Accessories:cake shaped earring on his right ear**

**School: ****Skyline Ace High School**

**Creator: ****Sparten2121**

* * *

**Student Number 12:**

**Full Name: Naomi 'Nao' Yamazaki**

**Gender: Female**

**Age: 16**

**Birthday: January 0****2nd **

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Enigmatologist**

**Hair Colour, length, and style: Naomi's chestnut brown hair flows against her face, usually worn loose and freely hanging. It is definitely longer than average and extends to just before her waist, styled so it hangs in spiky waves down her back, narrowing as it meets her waist, with faint copper highlights running down her partings. She will sometimes wear her hair in a ponytail, but she mostly prefers to keep it down. Accompanying this is her jagged ended semi straight cut fringe, which can unfortunately dangle into her right eye quite frequently, causing her to sigh irritably and tuck it forcefully behind her ear in response. Two smaller sections of her hair form small spiked bunches from either side of her head, secured by hairgrips.**

**Eye Colour: Her irises are a light brown, eyes slightly narrowed with naturally long eyelashes and accompanied by thin arched eyebrows sitting slightly raised above her eyes.**

**Skin tone: Naomi's complexion is rather fair, her skin being cream coloured with a few darker freckles dotted over the bridge of her nose and light blusher to darken her cheeks. Her chest is C cup sized, so about average, whilst her body is quite skinny and slender, lacking in curves.**

**Clothing: Naomi's clothing consists of an white button up short ruffled sleeve blouse (complete with a large orange ribbon for decoration) underneath a slightly flared open waistcoat decorated in stripes of alternate shades of grey (dark grey and light grey, providing a contrast in the fabric). On her lower body, she wears a simple pair of lighter grey shorts reaching to the level of her mid-thigh, the ends turned up and secured with a silver belt that has a buckle shaped like a puzzle piece. Underneath her skirt her legs are covered by a pair of lacy navy tights and on her feet, she wears a pair of tan coloured suede ankle boots with small heels, not too high since she would rather not fall over and injure herself.**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: scar on her right shoulder.**

**Height: 5'5 ft.**

**Weight: 134 lbs.**

**Accessories: Lastly, Naomi's choice in accessories reflect her talent rather well; besides her belt, she wears earrings which are shaped like two tiny rubik's cubes, pale grey crystal hair slides shaped like question marks, a bracelet of some strange metal loops and shapes which seem to be attached together with a special trick to remove them and a small bronze coloured locket, the locket round and engraved with the symbol for infinity. She carries a dark brown satchel with her which she wears over her body, containing multiple puzzle books, stationary (to make her own), odd puzzle pieces, her 'lucky' rubick's cube, her stuffed panda Kenji and a few of her favourite 'Nutso' chocolate bars.**

**School: Imperial Leading High School**

**Creator: ****Abitat Eco**

* * *

**Student Number 13:**

**Full Name: Sayuki Narada**

**Gender: Female**

**Age: 18**

**Birthday: July 19th**

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Actress**

**Hair Color, length, and style: Dark purple hair tied into two very long, jagged pigtails. She has a mix of violet and magenta highlights. Furthermore, she has two long, jagged, black bangs.**

**Eye color: Burnt orange**

**Skin tone: Porcelain**

**Clothing: Wears a dark purple evening gown that leaves her hips exposed, and has a diamond shaped chest window with a purple outline, offering a bit of cleavage. Furthermore, on the fabric that hangs down over her legs, there's a space-like pattern with golden stars. Along with that, she wears thigh-high leggings, the left one is violet and the other magenta, thin gloves that match the colors of her leggings, dark purple scarpin heels, and a large translucent cobalt blue cape.**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: none**

**Height: 5'6 ft.**

**Weight: 165 lbs.**

**Accessories: She has dark purple lipstick and black eyeliner on. She has a golden moon hairpin on the left side, a golden star hairpin on the right side, a silver bat-like pendant on her chest, and a fluffy, spiky violet boa around her neck. Additionally, she has a violet Chinese fan and a magenta one, handing on the sides of her hips. Of course, she also has a regal silver crown, it has three pronged spikes, and three amethysts featured prominently on the face the crown.**

**School: Brilliant Shining Star Preparatory Academy**

**Creator: 1Glimmershine**

* * *

**Student Number 14:**

**Full Name: Yu Yoshi**

**Gender: Male**

**Age: 18**

**Birthday: April 01st**

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Assassin**

**Hair Color, length, and style: He has wavy unkempt short black hair.**

**Eye color: His eye color is indigo. **

**Skin tone: beige**

**Clothes: For his normal clothing, Yu wears a black Mens Winter Parkas Warm Faux Fur Lining Padded Coat Jacket Hooded, a white Men's Croft & Barrow® Classic-Fit Easy Care Solid Spread-Collar Dress Shirt, a pair of black Condor Tactical Operator Pants, some black socks and black Robbie Double Monk Strap Shoes.**

**Extra clothing: **

**Pajamas: he wears a white Sleeveless V-neck top and a pair of Uncle Ralph Black Basketball Shorts.**

**Swimsuit: he wears some Patriot SHARKSKIN AMERICAMO swiming trunks with some Grey Easy USA Men's Water Shoes.**

**Apperance: Yu is a tall and kinda skinny guy. He has wavy unkempt short black hair. He is a bit muscular on his arm but overall his body is kinda lanky. His teeth look like fangs and are very sharp**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: He has stitch marks over his neck and he has bags under his eyes. **

**Height: 6'1 ft.**

**Weight: 130 lbs.**

**Accessories: He carries a black and red Adidas Foundation IV Backpack. In that backpack, he has a 2018 Axe HyperWhip BBCOR Baseball Bat: L138F which his lucky bat that is red and black axe bat, some extra sodas, bandages, and a note book that is like his log book.**

**School: ****Chikara Academy for Spectacular Students**

**Creator: ****pokemansuperallstar**

* * *

**Student Number 15:**

**Full Name: Hanzai Shinpi**

**Gender: Male **

**Age: 17**

**Birthday: December 14th **

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Crime Scene Investigator **

**Hair Color, length, and style: Short, wavy, light blue **

**Eye color: Green **

**Skin tone: peach colored**

**Clothing: Black shirt, black jeans, black shoes. **

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: has a scar on his right eye**

**Height: 5' 11 ft.**

**Weight: 160 lbs.**

**Accessories: black rimmed glasses and an earring in the left ear**

**School: ****Wintercrest Academy**

**Creator: TrueDespairBot123**

* * *

**Student Number 16 + Extra:**

**Full Name: ?**

**Gender: ?**

**Age: ****?**

**Birthday: ****?**

**Nationality: ****?**

**Talent: ****?**

**Hair Color, length, and style: ****?**

**Eye color: ****?**

**Skin tone: ****?**

**Clothing: ****?**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: ****?**

**Height: ****?**

**Weight: ****?**

**Accessories:****?**

**School : ****?**

**Creator: ****?**


	2. Prologue:The Château of Death Part I

**[Prologue - The Château (or is it a Castle?) of Death, Part I: The Students of Ultimate High Schools]**

**[April 15 2020]**

"Ughhhh…" Haruka slowly opened her eyes. She felt like she had been sleeping on a cold hard floor. With the floor constantly trembling, as if part of a constant earthquake. Slowly, she got up while holding her head, blinking a few times to clear her vision. It seemed like she was some kind of courtyard, with a few plants scattered. Haruka couldn't help but notice that there weren't any flowers, causing a slight pout to form on her face. She dusted off some dirt off her cardigan and knee length skirt. She also dusted off some dirt off of her hair. She began to stretch, trying to wake herself up. Once her senses were back and functioning properly, she felt ready to go.

_Where am I? _Haruka thought to herself as she looked around.

"Oh hey," a voice came from behind her, nearly causing her to squeak. "It seems like you're awake."

Haruka swiftly turned around to see a green-eyed boy. The boy looked about a year older than her. He had a rather messy brown hair, with the right side of his face nearly covered by it. He wore a blue checkered hoodie with a white shirt underneath it. He also wore gray jeans and a pair of white sneakers. A pair of headphones were also nested on his neck.

The boy gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

Haruka laughed awkwardly as she fiddled with her scarf. "Ah no, it's okay," She replied giving him a smile. "Do you know where we are?" She suddenly widened her eyes. "Oh wait! I haven't given you my name yet!" She placed a hand on her chest and smiled wide. "I'm the **Super High School Level Florist**, **Haruka Hanasagewa** at your service!"

The boy tilted his head. "**Super High School Level**?"

This time it was Haruka that tilted her head. "I'm from the **World Institute of Talent**. They personally scouted me."

"Oh yeah right, there are schools like **Hope's Peak**…" The boy said. He smiled at Haruka and pointed his thumb at his chest. "My name is **Kazuma Asahi**, the **Ultimate Electronic Musician**. It's nice to meet you."

"As for your earlier question," Kazuma rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know where we are. Actually no one here knows exactly where we are."

"Eh?" Haruka's eyes widened.

"The only thing any of us remember is that we were brought here via ship. The waves were pretty strong too."

_Oh yeah. That's why it felt like I was sleeping in an earthquake._

"Though since we were brought here by ship, we are probably on an island somewhere."

"That's not exactly helpful info," Haruka said before covering her mouth with her hand.

"Haha, sorry if I wasn't helpful enough." Kazuma laughed wryly.

"N-no, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that," Haruka gave him an apologetic smile.

"No it's fine," Kazuma said. "I kind of like that you're honest with your thoughts."

Haruka puffed out her cheeks slightly as she fiddled with her scarf. _I don't like that about myself though._

"Well," Kazuma said. "How about we look for clues around here? I also want to introduce you to the others. You're the last one to wake up after all."

"Ah no, I can take care of myself," Haruka tried to decline but it seemed Kazuma was not having any of it.

"No no, I insist," Kazuma says. He held out his hand towards her. "Come on."

"Okay," She sighed as she relented. "I'm not holding your hand though."

"That kind of hurts my feelings, but okay."

"Sorry about that, didn't mean it to come off like that."

"I told you it's fine."

Since there seemed to be four doors: east, west, north, south, all leading out of the courtyard, the pair decided to first go to the east gate. Stepping through, they found themselves in a hallway. The hallway had a regal feel to it, with an elegant red carpet. There was a maze garden on the right but it seemed no one was there at the moment, as well as multiple suits of armor lined up neatly along the hallway. The chandeliers that hung above were rather pretty, prompting Haruka to wonder how they would look at night.

After some minutes of walking, the pair came across a large red door.

"After you," Kazuma said as he opened the door, gesturing for Haruka to enter. The girl gave him a flat look as she went in, causing the boy to let out a wry laugh.

The inside of the room could only be described as dining hall. The tables and chairs were neatly arranged,giving off a fancy aura. The door to the kitchen was closed so nobody was probably there at the moment. In addition, more suits of armor sat along the walls. _Come to think of it, there were also suits in the courtyard. Are these things going to be everywhere?_

The room currently had three occupants. A girl in a kimono, a fedora wearing red head, and a rather handsome guy in a suit.

The three looked at them briefly as they walked in. The two girls went back to what they were doing while the boy walked up to them.

"Hello there!" The boy greeted them. His eyes were green and his hair was combed back. He wore a blue suit and a green tie which was kind of a fit in him. He wore a gray dress pants and black shoes. He adjusted his tie before speaking again. "I'm **Kenta Matsuzaki**, the **Super Duper High School Event Organizer** from **Mikado Academy**! Nice to meet you!"

"Hey, Kenta," Kazuma greeted.

"Yo, Kazuma," Kenta greeted back. He gives the electric musician a high five.

"You know each other?" Haruka asksed.

"No we just met a while ago but I got the feeling that the two of us will become good friends," Kazuma gave her a thumbs up.

"So any ideas on where we are?"

"Nope," Kenta rubbed the back of his head. "I don't think anyone here has an idea on where we are."

"So how are you right now?" Haruka asked. "You don't seem comfortable here."

"You noticed huh," Kenta sighed. "Well it's hard to relax with those two around." He pointed at the two girls inside the room.

"What? What's wrong with them?" Haruka tilted his head.

"Well…" Kenta started.

"It's best if you go see for yourself," Kazuma said.

_Why are they so anxious about these girls? They seem to be normal enough. These boys should be past the stage where they were awkward around girls._ Haruka walked to the nearest girl. The girl had bright yellow hair tied into a bun with her bangs parted down the middle. She wore a black kimono with sakura patterns on it and a black haori draped like a cape on her shoulder. She also had a sarashi in place of a bra. She also wore black sandals and carried a sword case. She glared up to haruka and showing her red eyes.

_Okay, maybe it was alright for them to be intimidated._

"What do you want?" She had a rather deep voice for a girl but not to the point where she can be considered a guy.

"I-I'm Haruka Hanasagewa," She stammered. "I-I'm the S-Super High School Level Florist. I'm from the World Institute of Talent."

The girl was silent for amoment. "**Gifted Kenjutsu Praticitioner** from **Victoria Academy for the Gifted**, **Tohka Yayoi**. If we're done with the introduction, please go away. I find your presence irritating."

'_Wow, aren't you a total bitch?' _Haruka almost spoke, but managed to stop herself this time. She didn't want to be on the bad side of someone skilled with the sword.

Haruka moved towards the other girl. She was rather short, barely even taller than Haruka, who pretty short herself. Haruka couldn't get a good look at the girl but she was sure that she currently had her eyes closed. She had dark red hair with a small braid in the right side. She also wore a black fedora as well as a black coat, underneath which was a white dress shirt and a waistcoat. She wore black pants and black slip-on shoes. Her hands were covered with white gloves with a symbol that Haruka didn't recognize. She also had a red scarf draped around her shoulders. She looked at Haruka, giving the florist a good look at her face. She had sharp black eyes as dark as the night. She also had a rather noticeable scar on the right side of her chin.

"Hey there!" Haruka said in a friendly manner. Maybe this one would respond positively. "I'm Haruka Hanasagewa! The Super High School Level Florist!"

"Ciao," the girl said with a heavy Italian accent as she tipped her fedora and smiled at Haruka. "My name is **Nemesis**,** Nemesis Noir**."

_Well, she seems nice._

"I'm known as the **Queen of Retribution**. I'm from the **Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles** and I also hold the title **Super Inmate Level Mafia Boss**."

_Okay maybe not._ She had heard rumors of the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles. The school that takes students with criminal records, but those extremely talented in what they do. They say that serial killers can wear their kill count as a badge and thieves were regularly stealing from each other there.

"Say, mademoiselle," Nemesis said as she pulled down her gloves, handing Haruka a calling card that had the same symbol as her gloves. "If you have someone you want dead, feel free to call me. Just as long as your deal with them isn't something petty, like they bullied you once or something like that, I'll send them straight to Hades."

'_Gee thanks,' _the florist sweatdropped at the offer. Good thing she didn't have anyone she really wanted dead.

"Ahaha…" Haruka laughed nervously. "Well Miss. Nemesis—"

"No need to be so formal, just Nemesis will do."

"W-well then Nemesis," Haruka said nervously. "I-I'll be going. I want to meet the others."

"Okay then, see you later," Nemesis gave her a friendly smile.

_Well that was unexpected._ _It seems that I shouldn't judge a book by its cover._ Still, she was from Ultimate Academy and is also a mafia boss with a revenge calling card. She walked towards the two boys who were giving her a pair of wry smiles.

"Told you so," Kenta said.

"I see what you mean now," Haruka said fiddling with her scarf. "Well let's go meet the others," She turns to Kenta. "Are you coming with us?"

"Yeah, I'll be coming," Kenta said. "I don't think I fit in here."

The three of them leave the room and walks down the halls once again. Eventually, they found another door and entered it. The room was rather peculiar. There was lots of supply in the room and something that looks like a gacha machine, and even a vending machine, along with a counter in the middle. As the group went inside for a better look, they noticed ropes, chains, swords, hammers, some books, etc. It felt like the room was a mix of a store and a storage room.

There was a sole occupant in the room. It was a rather tall girl. She wore a pale blue fur coat and had the hood up despite the fact that she was indoors. She was also wearing blue denim jeans and a brown hiking boots. She also wore a leather belt with a pickaxe hanging on the side, in addition to an oversized waterproof backpack. Her hair was rather wild and reached up to her chin. She looked at the contents of the room with her pale blue eyes as if to examine them.

Haruka walked towards the girl carefully so she wouldn't startle her.

"Hey there," Haruka greeted the girl in a casual and friendly manner.

"Ah!" the girl seemed startled at the greeting.

_Whelp, so much for not startling her. _

"Sorry I didn't mean to startle you," the florist said apologetically with a wry smile.

"A-ah n-no it's okay," the tall girl said shyly. She began trying to cover her face with her hood.

"I'm the Super High School Level Florist from the World Institute of Talent, Haruka Hanasagewa," Haruka smiled and introduced herself. "What's your name?"

"…My name?" she trailed off for a moment before continuing. "Sorry for the frosty reception. I'm not very good with people. M-My name is **Kira Petrove**, and I'm known as the **Elite Mountain Climber**. I'm from **Versailles Academy**."

"Versailles Academy?"

"It's a highly prestigious school. They're more likely to accept students that come from wealth and status," Kira answered. "I came from a lower class family. The sponsors that I had were the one that managed to catch their attention."

"So it's a school that's probably filled with pricks and snobs," Haruka made the rather bold statement with a straight face.

"…" Kira stared at her with wide eyes.

"…sorry," Haruka said apologetically as she rubbed the back of her head. "I have a bad habit of saying what's on my mind. Sorry if I offended you."

"Ah, n-no it's okay," the shy girl assured. "I was just kind of surprised with how blunt you are."

"By the way, don't you feel hot in that coat?" Haruka said. "Why don't you take it off?"

It seems that wasn't the right thing to say as Kira suddenly widened her eyes and hugged her arms. "T-take off my coat?" She stammers. "N-No that's not necessary. I'm quite comfortable, s-so don't worry about me at all!"

Well that was weird. "I-I see," Haruka gives her an awkward smile. "I'll see you later then, Kira."

"Petrove is fine," the tall girl said. "There's another Kira here after all."

"Eh?"

"I-I could tell you about her but it might be better if you meet her yourself. I'll be staying here for a while."

"Okay then. See you later Petrove."

Haruka walked towards her two companions. "That was impressive," Kazuma complimented. "Petrov's a pretty shy girl. You actually managed to speak to her longer than any of us."

"Well second if you count that guy," Kenta corrected.

"That guy?"

"Just another student," Kazuma clarified. "How about we go look for the other students you have yet to meet?"

"That would be good," Haruka replied. The other two waved Petrov goodbye while the tall girl shyly raised her hand a little bit in response. The trio once again got into the hallway. After sometime of walking they arrived at a split.

"Where should we go first?" Haruka said placing her hand on her chin and began to think deeply.

"Eh let's decide with a coin toss," Kenta took out an old coin from his pocket. "Heads right, left tails."

He flipped the coin and the coin spun a couple of times in the air before finally coming down. Kenta caught the coin with his right hand and slams it onto his left arm. He removed his hand, revealing the coin to have landed on tails.

"Left it is then," Kazuma said as he walked towards the left hallway. After another minute of walking, they found themselves at another door. Haruka opened the door this time and they found themselves somewhere that looks like a terrace. There were currently two people, a boy and a girl, on the terrace. The girl was sitting on one of the tables and looks like she was having some green tea while the boy was feeling the wind on his face. They both wore similar outfits but the boy was flashier. Haruka approaches the boy who seems to notice and turns to face her giving her a better view at his clothes.

His hair silvery black medium length that was spiked up in the front while some short curly ponytail that rests on his shoulder. He wore a dark read fukumen that covered both his mouth and nose. He wears a black uwagi with the sleeves cut short with a light grey t-shirt with designs of shurikens and the kanji of 'Stealth' underneath it. He wore dark tekoh on his hands with dark white bandages wrapped around his wrist and arms. He wore a black hakama and a white belt that was wrapped around his uwagi. He also had a dark red kyahan wrapped around his legs to keep his hakama in place. He also wore a white tabi and waraji on his feet. He also had two swords on his back wrapped in red and white tape as well as a dark brown beaded cross necklace. He also had a shuriken shaped birthmark on his right shoulder.

Haruka was already feeling embarrassed just by looking at him.

"A-ah hello," she greeted the boy. "I'm Haruka Hanasagewa, Super High School Level Florist."

"Ah a florist," the boy said. "One who aids the cultivation of flowers as well as their arrangements, I see."

"W-well can I ask for your name?"

"My name?" Ninja boy said before crossing his arms. "I am one with darkness, a shadow of the night, vanishing before your sight almost as if I was never there."

"Y-Yeah." Haruka sweatdropped. _Get on with it._

"I am called the **Paramount Escape Artist **by the **Mochizuki Premier Academy**. However they do not know the truth. In truth I am a Ninja, I am—"

'_Delusional,' _Haruka thought, though this time she didn't let it slip.

Mochizuki Premier Academy, it was a school who only accepted those who are pureblood Japanese. A school hell-bent on preserving tradition.

"—**Genjiro Hattori**." He finished.

'_Wow that was super lame,' _Again she catches herself. Kenta was stifling a laugh while Kazuma gave out a tired sigh.

"I have now introduced myself," Genjiro said as he turned around, obviously trying to look cool doing so. "Now stay out of my way, you should not talk to us so casually."

"Okay," Haruka said with a flat look. She could feel that he was trying to look really cool. After all, he was going for a wind effect while his ponytail swayed. The florist walked towards the girl who was also dressed like a ninja though unlike Genjiro, she wore it in a more traditional way. She hoped that he wasn't a chuuni like Genjiro. She looks at Haruka with a rather impressive pokerface.

"H-hey, I'm—" as Haruka was about to introduce herself, the girl whipped out a notepad and began writing on it. Once she was finished she showed the notepad to Haruka.

[No need, I already heard your name when you introduced yourself to Genjiro. Haruka Hanasagewa, correct?]

"I-I see," Haruka sweatdropped. The girl was already writing again.

[That was a rather embarrassing display huh?]

Haruka didn't say anything but she agreed.

[I'm also a bit embarrassed. He and I are from the same school after all, Mochizuki Premier Academy.]

'_A bit embarrassed eh…it doesn't really show.' _

[By the way, I'm **Kira Amamiya**, you can call me **Amamiya**. I'm the **Paramount** **Ninja **and I assure you I am a real one.]

_So she's the other Kira._ Amamiya was rather different from Petrov. Amaiya had short pixie cut black hair. Her eyes were brown like the earth. Her ninja outfit was more traditional in form, with a Katana on her back and some shurikens on her waist as well as an Asian dragon necklace around her neck.

[Do you have any more business with us?]

"Ah no," Haruka said. "Wait why are you using a notepad?"

[…I'm mute. I can't speak.]

"O-oh," Haruka stammers. She felt like she stepped on a landmine. "S-sorry."

[It is fine, I don't mind. Well then, I'd like some peace and quiet. Genjiro is pretty much an edgy chuuni so he probably won't bother me.]

"Okay. Well then Amamiya, I'll be off."

"Well," Kenta said grinning as they walked out of the terrace. "What do you think of our resident ninjas?"

"They're both okay," Haruka said. "Genjiro might come off as a rather lame ninja but it seems that he's a good guy I guess. Amamiya also seems to be pretty nice, though she is quite aloof I guess."

"Mmhm, glad you don't think too badly of them," Kazuma said.

"Despite the fact that I can be blunt sometimes, I love to believe the best in people," Haruka gives them both a thumbs up and a big smile.

"Hah," Kazuma chuckled. "That's quite the bright personality."

"If you're bright then tomorrow will also be bright!"

"Heh, you've got that right," Kenta said.

They kept walking until they reached another door. Behind the doors were a large set of stairs. Haruka groaned as they climbed up the stairs. She really didn't like stairs, especially large stairs like these. After some time of walking, they reached another door. And behind the door was another hallway. The right side was all walls while the left side gave a view of the courtyard from above. Haruka was really getting impatient with all these walking.

Finally they reached a door. Haruka almost jumped with joy at the sight of the door. Opening it revealed what appeared to be yet another hallway. Haruka's shoulders slumped. Kenta put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "There, there."

They once again walked towards where the hallway would lead to. There was a giant red door to which Haruka immediately ran towards to open. Opening the door, they were greeted by the sight of turning gears everywhere. There were gears on the wall and giant gears under the floor. There was a set of stairs that leaded to the second floor of the room. It looked like a clock tower level from _Castlevania._

"Where are we?" Haruka asks as she looked around. It seems that there were other people in the room. A top hat wearing girl, a dark-skinned boy, and a boy with a curly brown hair. The orange haired girl and the curly haired boy were chatting together, or at least the boy was trying to get her to chat with him as she space out, while the dark-skinned boy was tapping his fingers on his legs with his eyes closed while leaning on the railing. It seems like he was trying to look cool. Haruka decided to go towards the pair first.

Looking closer the girl had had a long that reached up to the middle of her back. Her hair was styled in a half braid tied by a chocolate colored ribbon. She had caramel colored eyes. She wore a sleeveless JSK dress with small squares around it, with each square having a different candy design in them. She wore light brown leggings and wore a brown colored Mary Jane shoes. She had brown leather gloves hands and a top hat on her head.

It seems that right now however, she was really focused. She even had an odd look on her face with her index and thumb on her chin.

"Oh hey," Haruka turned and saw the boy waving at her with a mitten wearing hand. He had a curly brown hair that goes past has his ears with a matching brown eyes to boot. He wore black glasses. He also wore a black buttoned up shirt with black jeans as well. He had a brown sneakers. He had an apron on his waist. He was also wearing a caked shaped earing on his right ear. He was smiling at Haruka brightly.

Haruka felt a bit uncomfortable looking at his smile though. She didn't want to let that bother her though so she returned his smile with a brighter one.

"Hello!" Haruka said with a smile. "My name's Haruka Hanasagewa, Super High School Level Florist!"

"Nice to meet you Haruka, my name's **John Puckett**," he said with a smile. "The **Ace Baker** from **Skyline Ace High School**!"

_Skyline Academy…that's the Academy known best for its well-rounded education. _Though the students with talents had special privileges, such as no tuition to pay and better equipment to use, they were still forced to take regular classes because they had the mindset that having a talent isn't enough to survive in the real world. The Talented students are also given more difficult exams compared to those that aren't.

"Would you want some of my pies in the future, Haruka?" John offered with a big smile.

"I'd love to!" Haruka replied. "I want to taste the pies made by an Ace Baker!"

"I'll hold you to that promise."

Haruka smiled before remembering the other person with them. She turned towards the orange haired girl and tilted her head slightly. "So, what's wrong with her?"

"Oh," John rubbed the back of his head. "She's been like that since a while ago. I've been trying to talk to her for a while now but nothing seems to be coming through. Her name's—"

Suddenly, without warning, the girl thrust her hand forward and yelled. "A prophetic vision!"

"Whoa!" John and Haruka both yelped and took a step backwards. They then got into their original position as the girl continued.

"I had a prophetic chocolate vision! I have to work on it now!" the orange haired girl declared. "Excuse me!" She pushed both John and Haruka out of the way causing the pair to stumble.

"H-hey! That's not very nice!" Haruka called out.

"Y-yeah!" John said in agreement.

Kenta immediately blocked the girl's path. "H-hey, could you at least introduce yourself before going off to work on your 'prophetic chocolate vision'?"

The girl tilted her head a bit before clapping her hands together. She turned towards Haruka to introduce herself. "Salutations! My name is **Priscilla Dentyne **though you may also call me **Ella**. You may know me as the owner of **Dentyne Chocolate Inc**. Yes, tis I, the **Supreme Chocolatier** from **Hope Hills Preparatory Academy**! Now I shall be on my way as I have just received a prophetic chocolate vision right now, and thus I must get to work!"

She walked past Kenta and towards the exit of the gear tower. John had decided to follow, saying something about how he wanted to a taste of her chocolate.

"W-wait" Haruka called out. "I—"

"If it was about your introduction, I was listening when you were talking to John! You're Haruka Hanasagewa, the Super High School Level Florist!" she says as she got out of the gear tower.

Haruka sweatdropped. That was weird.

"H-haha," Kenta sweatdropped. "Well…sorry about that."

After recovering from the surprise that was Ella, Haruka walked towards the dark-skinned boy. It seemed that the dark-skinned boy was talking to Kazuma. The boy had short unkempt black hair almost like a wild hairy style. The boy was wearing a black open coat with a white shirt with abstract gray lines underneath it. He also had a grey sweat pants and grey sneakers. He also had some leather bracelets on his wrist.

The boy and Kazuma seem to be talking about something.

"I see," the dark-skinned boy said. "A musician huh, want to have some jam session sometime in the future?"

"Maybe, but I'm more on electronic or technological music so it might not work out," Kazuma replied.

"'_Might'_. So there's a chance," the dark-skinned boy grinned.

Kazuma smiled. "Maybe."

"Hello," Haruka greeted her signature friendly smile. The two boys turned towards her. Kazuma gives her a smile and a wave. The dark-skinned boy rubbed his neck and offered her a smile.

"We haven't met yet right?" the dark skinned boy said. He gives her a confident grin. "I'm **David Hayes** but you can call me **Dave** for short. I'm the **Epitome Bassist **from **Great Bright Sky High School**!"

_Bright Sky Academy…nope, doesn't ring a bell._

"Hello Dave! I'm Haruka Hanasagewa, Super High School Level Florist."

"Huh I see," Dave grinned. "You should come listen when I play. You're totally going to fall in love with it."

"Are you hitting on me?"

"What!? No!" Dave denied with a blush on his cheeks. "I just want you to listen to my music that's all!"

"Relax, relax," Haruka said with an apologetic smile. "I was just teasing you."

"That wasn't very nice," Dave said with a frown.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Haruka said as she fiddled with her scarf. She looked up a bit and remembered that there was a second floor in the gear tower. "Well then I think I'll be going to the upper part of the tower."

"Well then, I think I'll go to the dining hall," Dave said. "If what that Chocolatier said was true, she'll be making some chocolate and I want to taste some of that." He waved the trio goodbye as he walked out of the gear tower.

The second floor of the gear tower looked almost the same to the point that you would wonder why they made it a second floor. The only difference that it had from the first floor was there was a pathway but it was blocked by a gate. The sole occupant of the room was a girl with chestnut brown hair that was loose and freely hanging. Her hair was pretty long, reaching up to her waist. Her hair also had some faint copper highlights.

The girl wore a white buttoned up ruffled sleeved blouse. She also had a rather large orange ribbon. She also wore a pair of grey shorts that reached her mid-thigh with the ends turned up and secured by a silver belt with a puzzle shaped buckle. Her legs were also covered by a pair of lacy navy blue tights. She wore a pair of ankle boots with small heels.

She had a lot of accessories. She had earrings shaped like tiny Rubik's Cubes on her ear. She had pale crystal hair slides that had the shape of question marks on her hair. She also had a bracelet that looked like some complicated metal loops. She had a small bronze colored locket that had the shape of infinity on her neck. She carried a small dark brown satchel with her.

"Hey!" Haruka greeted with her usual friendly manner causing the girl to turn towards. "I'm Haruka Hanasagewa, Super High School Florist."

The girl regarded her with an unreadable expression. She then reached out for her satchel and took out a rather complicated looking metal loop puzzle. She tosses it to Haruka who clumsily catches it and points at her. "Solve that in one minute."

"E-eh?" Haruka was dumbfounded as she stared at the metal loops in her hands. What kind of person does this for their first impression?

"Time's ticking, you only have 55 seconds left to solve that."

"W-wait! H-hold on!" Haruka struggled trying to solve the puzzle. This sure was a difficult puzzle and with the time limit's pressure on her, Haruka was pretty much sure she wouldn't be able to solve it. One minute passed and Haruka was unable to solve the puzzle as she handed it back to the girl. The girl gave her a rather smug look like she was looking at something that was beneath her.

"Hmph! How pathetic!" the girls said loudly and smugly. "I would've been able to solve it in less than 15 seconds at most! But that's to be expected from someone like you."

A vein popped. Haruka gives her a strained smile. "Yeah, let's see it then."

The girl smirked and immediately worked on the puzzle. Haruka widened her eyes when she saw how the girl managed to quickly and smoothly separate the metal loops. Haruka had been counting seconds and the girl had solved the puzzle in 10 seconds, 5 seconds earlier than the time limit she gave herself. The girl looks at her smugly as if to slap the fact on Haruka's face. "Oh dear me, it seems that I managed to solve it earlier than the time I gave, but that's to be expected from me. I am the greatest after all."

"Okay then Ms. Greatest," Haruka said in the most polite tone she can manage right now. "Would you mind introducing yourself?"

The girl's eyes widened. "You…you don't know who I am? My opinion on you for failing to solve such a simple puzzle was already low but you managed to bring it down even lower."

'_Stop being an ass and start introducing yourself,' _Haruka inwardly said to herself.

"Well then, I will now enlighten you. Engrave this name within your memory," The girl crossed her arms and began introducing herself. "I am the great **Naomi Yamazaki**. I am the **Master Enigmatologist** from **Imperial Leading High School**."

Imperial Leading High School…If Haruka remembered correctly, Imperial Leading High School was a rather peculiar school. They accepted talented students but they had a system that encouraged the talented students find an apprentice from certain middle schools. The graduating student will then mentor that student to succeed their title. The successions are rare though as most of the apprentice students can't keep up with their mentors and end up dropping out.

_I'm pretty sure nobody would want to be mentored by her._

"Well, that wasn't very nice Naomi, you can't just keep acting like you're superior to everyone here," Kazuma said with a frown while Kenta, who had a look of disapproval, nodded.

"Oh it's you," Naomi eyed him before turning away again. "The only people worth my time and company are those that I deem worthy. And clearly none of you here are."

Kazuma sighed.

"Eh but didn't that guy managed to solve your puzzles pretty easily?" Kenta questioned.

"That guy?"

Naomi had a look of embarrassment on her face. "That doesn't count! He just got lucky!"

"That guy?" Haruka asks for the second time.

"Nobody," Naomi scoffed. "He's just a weird and creepy guy."

_Why is everyone hell-bent on hiding this guy's identity?_

"W-well then," Haruka says. "I'll be off to meet the other students then."

"Just remember who the best student here is," Naomi says. "It's me."

_Yeah, yeah whatever you say._

The trio got out of the gear tower and went back to the first floor. "Seems like we're done here in this side," Kazuma said. "Let's go explore the east side of the place."

"Well, I'll be staying in the dining hall again," Kenta said. "So you two can go on without me."

Bidding Kenta farewell, Kazuma and Haruka went back to the courtyard and went to explore the west side of the castle. The west side hallway was almost the same as the east side hallway. Their difference being that the east side had red carpet while the west side had a blue carpet. There was also a peach tree garden on the left side of the hallway. The duo eventually found another split. This time however there was a door straight ahead and the right side was barricaded by a gate so the two decided to go inside. The door led to a very large library and it even had a third floor. There were tables and chairs, some potted plants, and countless of books neatly organized in the bookshelves. There were three occupants in the room: A girl with extravagant looking clothes, a parka wearing boy, and a boy in glasses. It seems that the girl was saying something while the two boys had tired expressions.

Kazuma tensed. As Haruka was going to ask, he puts his hand on her shoulder and whispers to her. "Careful with that guy who wears a parka, he's dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

"You'll find out once you learn of his talent."

_Can't you just tell me?_

Haruka sighed and walked towards the group. Kazuma follows her closely behind. As they neared the group, she could hear the girl talking about something. "Ahem," Haruka clears her throat to gather their attention. The trio turns to her, the girl visibly annoyed. "Hello there! I'm Haruka Hanasagewa, Super High School Level Florist."

"A florist eh?" the girl said. The girl was really extravagant. She had dark purple hair tied into very long jagged twintails with violet and magenta highlights. There was also had a golden moon hairpin on the left side of her hair while the right side had a golden star one. Her burnt orange eyes had brilliance in them. She wore a dark purple evening gown that left her hips exposed with a diamond shape chest window with purple outline showing a bit of her cleavage. There was also a space-like pattern with golden stars on the fabric that hangs over her legs. She also wore thigh-high leggings, with the left one being violent and the right one being magenta which matched the color of her gloves. She also wore dark purple heels and a cobalt blue cape.

She also had a dark purple lipstick and black eye-liner on. She wore a silver bat-like pendant on her chest and a fluffy spiky boa around her neck. She also has two Chinese fans on her waist and like the rest of her ensemble, they were magenta and violet. She also had a silver crown on her head.

"Well then allow me to introduce myself," the rather extravagant girl declared. She tilts her chin up and places a hand on her chest. "I am the **Cosmic Queen**, **Nympha Demura**!"

"…" Haruka stared at her.

"…or you can call me **Sayuki Narada** but I would prefer it if you called me by the former. The latter is super lame!" Sayuki placed her hands on her hips as she huffs.

"Sayuki Narada…" Haruka has heard of that name before. "You mean the star of _Battlestar Galactica_?"

"Yes I am!" Sayuki smiled. "I am the **Brilliant Actress** of **Brilliant Shining Star Preparatory Academy**!"

Wow, that has got to be one of the most pretentious school names that Haruka has ever heard of.

"Now, you can be my apprentice—"

"Alright, I'm going to cut in and introduce myself before things get out of hand with you," the parka wearing boy interrupted as he rubbed the back of his head causing the actress to puff her cheeks at him. The boy had a wavy unkempt short black hair and indigo eyes. He wore his parka open revealing a white dress shirt. He wore black operator pants and black double monk strap shoes. The boy also had stitch marks on his neck. The boy gave her a smile showing of his sharp teeth. Kazuma tensed behind Haruka. "I'm the **Spectacular Assassin **from** Chikara Academy for Spectacular Students**,** Yu Yoshi**."

_I see why Kazuma warned me about this guy._

"Since I've introduced myself and the library's starting to get flooded, I'll be leaving," The boy stood up and headed outside of the library.

_Having more than three people is flooded?_

"He's a very interesting fellow isn't he?" Sayuki said with a hint of glint in her eyes.

Haruka wasn't so sure of what to make of that.

"Ahem," someone cleared their throat. They all turned toward the person who cleared their throat and saw the boy in glasses. The boy was actually one of the more simple students so far. He only wore black shirt, black jeans, and black shoes. It was basically all black. He wore a pair of black rimmed-glasses and an earring on his left ear. He also had a noticeable scar on his right eye. "I'll also be introducing myself. I am Hanzai Shinpi. I came from **Wintercrest Academy **and I hold the title of **S-Class Crime Scene Investigator**."

"A crime scene investigator?" Haruka asks. "Then do you know where we are?" She asks with a tinge of hope in her voice. Her hopes dropped a bit when he shook his head.

"Unfortunately I have no idea where we are," Hanzai said.

"Ah is that so," Haruka says.

"Though I may have an idea on who brought us here."

"Really!?"

"Yes, but let's wait until everyone is gathered so I won't have to repeat myself," Hanzai begins to stand up. "If you'll excuse me, I'll be going to the dining hall."

_I get the feeling that they used the introduction to get away from Sayuki._

"Well then," Kazuma said while grabbing Haruka by the shoulders. "Haruka's still has one student left to meet, so we'll be going off to meet him."

Sayuki wasn't too pleased at being ignored like that but she relented. The two got out of the library. Haruka starts to walk to the left side before feeling Kazuma's hand on her shoulder again. "Let's go back to the courtyard."

"Eh?" Haruka tilts her head. "But we haven't explored the whole place yet. Kazuma takes out a map from his pocket and shows it to Haruka.

"I got this map from the library. It seems that that path leads to the baths," He says as he shows her the map. "I don't think anyone would want to be in the baths at a time like this."

"Oh, okay then."

The two made their way back to the courtyard. The two places left to explore was the south side and the north side of the place. "Where should we go to next?"

Kazuma takes the map out again. "It seems that the north side has a flower garden—"

"To the north side!" Haruka enthusiastically says and began marching towards the north side of the area.

"Oh hey! Wait up!" Kazuma says as he pockets back the map and runs after Haruka.

Immediately after entering the gate, they were greeted by a variety of flowers. There were roses of different colors. The poppies were all at the same size. Lilies were everywhere. They were everywhere. It was like a personal paradise or heaven for Haruka. "Look Kazuma! Aren't they all beautiful!?"

Kazuma laughed wryly. "You really like flowers huh?"

"I don't like them, I love them!" Haruka smiled brighter as she looked around the garden. There were dahlias, lotus, tulips, there were so many of them trying to list them all would take the whole day.

As she looked around at the garden she saw a field of red spider lilies near what seems to be an artificial river. And there was also a boy there as well. He had his hood up as he looked at the spider lilies.

The boy was wearing a black windbreaker hoodie which has zipped up. He wore gray pants secured by a black leather belt. The boy also wore black shoes. There were also some chains on his belt. He also had a messenger bag with him.

Haruka couldn't see his face well but she was certain that he was wearing glasses. He also had black hair if the antenna like hair that was prominently out of his hoodie was any indication of that. As she approached him she noticed that he had a cellphone in his hand.

"_Lycoris Nadiata,_ also known as red magic lily or the equinox flower, but is mostly known as red spider lily." The boy says as he regarded the flowers. As Haruka got closer it seems that he had red eyes. "Though beautiful, they are poisonous. Not only that, they are mostly associated with death. It's quite fascinating to see how such beautiful flowers are associated with death."

"You seem to be well-versed in flowers," Haruka said but was ignored.

"Hey!" another voice, a girl's voice, called out. Haruka looked around to find the source of the voice but couldn't find anyone else. "Hey jackass, someone's trying to talk to you!"

"Oh?" the boy turned to face Haruka. He removes his hood revealing a smooth chin length black hair. The hair antenna also repositioned itself so that it would curve but still stand out. He stared at her with his red eyes. "Oh dear me, I didn't notice you there."

"It's fine," Haruka says. "I'm Haruka Hanasagewa, the Super High School Level Florist. It seems that you're well-versed in flowers, would you like to talk about them?"

"Ah no, I'm no expert," He replied. "I only know that about the red spider lily because it's my favorite flower."

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" the voice was once again heard. Haruka looked around and still saw no one.

"Okay that was weird," Haruka says. "It seems like I'm hearing things."

"No you're not," the boy said as he handed her his cellphone. Haruka receives it and saw a girl with an imperial red hair reaching just below her chest appear in the screen. The red haired digital girl had a white Soviet greatcoat black buttons four buttons parallel going down each chest. She wore dark gray wool pants tucked into the Soviet Russia army officer's chrome boots. She also had a peaked cap. She also had vertical white lines on her face just beneath her eyes. The girl also had an antique brass skin.

"Hello," She said. "I'm **K1 4R4** though you can call me **Klara** **Lanstov**, as you can see I'm currently living here in this cell phone until I receive a replacement body."

"E-eh?" Haruka was dumbfounded by the turn of events.

"She was supposed to be a robot," the boy said. "Last year while I was out helping people in Russia, I found her. Her body was rather broken and there was no way to fix it, after all it was made during the World War II period and she was put into sleep mode for over 80 years. I did find her AI chip and managed to transfer her data into my cell phone."

"Yep!" Klara confirmed the story. "So until I manage to get a new body, I'll be staying in this phone. I do hope that we can be friends. I also want to understand emotions as I was originally designed to kill people during the war. I—"

"Klara, this is an introduction not a life story."

"Oh right!"

The boy takes Klara back from Haruka. "Fascinating isn't she? Despite the fact that her sole purpose was to kill people, she managed to grow beyond that. And this was during the World War II, isn't that fascinating?"

"Yes, it is kind of fascinating," Haruka said as she tried to process what just happened. The boy had a sentient AI girl in his cellphone. Who is he? Shintaro Kisaragi?

"Oh my," the boy's red eyes widened. "I've forgotten to introduce myself."

The boy smiles at her. "I'm from the **S.T.S**., **Premier Psychologist**,** Kasuka Kagami**. It's a pleasure to meet you, Haruka Hanasagewa."

**[Chapter End]**

**[Students Alive: 16]**

**Student Number 16 + EXTRA**

**Full Name: Kasuka Kagami**

**Gender: Male**

**Age: 16**

**Birthday: June 05th**

**Nationality: Japanese**

**Talent: Psychologist**

**Hair Color, length, and style: Smooth chin-length black hair with an ahoge.**

**Eye color: Red**

**Skin tone: Fair**

**Clothing: Kasuka wears a black windbreaker hoodie. Underneath the hoodie is a plain white shirt. He wears pants secured by a black belt. He also wears black shoes and socks.**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: none**

**Height: 6'0 ft.**

**Weight: 112 lbs.**

**Accessories: Kasuka wears a pair of glasses on his face. He also has a messenger back filled with notes, a laptop. It's also where he usually puts his cellphone.**

**Extra:**

**Full Name: Klara Lantsov. ( K1 4R4 )**

**Gender: Non-binary(female form)**

**Age: +80 (appears to look like 18-20)**

**Birthday: September 1 (born in 1939)**

**Nationality: Russian  
**

**Talent: former Ultimate Mekhanizm (механизм)  
**

**Hair Color, length, and style: Imperial red, long poker straight hair reaching just below breasts. Hair covers her right side of her face.  
**

**Eye color: Neutral: Green Angry/upset: Crimson  
**

**Happy: Sky blue Sadness: Purple Pink: Unknown  
**

**Skin tone: Antique Brass (shade of tan)  
**

**Clothes: White Soviet greatcoat black buttons four buttons parallel going down each breast. Dark grey wool pants tucked into Soviet Russia army ****officer's chrome boots. Peaked cap black overall with with a gold plated hammer and sickle design on the front. (Her cap doesn't fit her very well and ****is always adjusting it or it falls off her head)  
**

**Body type: Curvey figure, C-cup breast, long legs, also when angry has a canine looking fang.  
**

**Scars/Tattoos/Birthmarks: Under each eye she has two vertical white lines that are illuminated. Just above her chest is an oval shaped light.  
**

**Height: formerly 5'5 ft.  
**

**Weight: formerly 125 lbs.  
**

**Accessories: NR-40 knife attached the a black belt on waist with gold buckle**

**School: None**

**Creator: McLogal**

**[Authors Notes:]**

**Prologue done, bet ya didn't see that one coming did ya?**

**Shoutout to Alter Ego AV for letting me use Wintercrest for one of the students and Special thanks to ****MudkipOfDespair, who's the beta for this story.**

**And thank you to all those who sent their wonderful OCs!**

**Next up is the announcement of the Château Killing Game.**


	3. Prologue: the Château of Death Part II

**[Prologue – The Château (or is it Castle) of Death Part II: Château (Castle?) Killing Game]**

**Date: April 15, 2020**

**Time: 6:45 PM**

"I'm from the S.T.S., Premier Psychologist Kasuka Kagami. It's a pleasure to meet you, Haruka Hanasagewa," Kasuka held out his hand as if to invite Haruka to shake it.

"It's nice to meet you too, Kasuka," Haruka took his hand and shook it. She felt a chill down her spine. His hand was so cold. So cold to the point that Haruka wondered if he dipped it down iced water for a long time.

"And what about me?" Kasuka's AI companion butted in. Haruka couldn't see her right now but she was sure that Klara was tapping her foot and puffing her cheeks.

"It's nice to meet you too, Klara," Haruka replied back to the AI. _I'm having a conversation with a girl in a cell phone, this is so weird._

"Well then Haruka," Kasuka turned away from her and faced the red spider lily field. "May I ask you a question?"

"Yes?"

"What did you do last year?"

"Last year?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Kasuka red eyes turned towards her. Haruka felt uncomfortable. It felt like those eyes were trying to analyze everything about her, like it was looking at the depths of her soul. "Last year was the reconstruction of the world after that calamity. It's also how I ended up in Russia and how I ended up finding Klara. I was wondering what you were doing during that time."

Haruka's eyes widened. "You mean what was I doing after the Tragedy?"

The Tragedy, it was the single most devastating event that occurred in the world. The world was thrown into chaos and almost to the brink of destruction. People started to lose regards for human life. The one behind it all was called the Ultimate Despair. It started as with a single person but eventually it spread across Japan and then the world itself. The Tragedy was basically pointless slaughter and destruction all for the sake of Despair. It managed to die down after the end of the Hope's Peak Killing Game but some of the members of Ultimate Despair still persist to this day.

"Yes," Kasuka replied to her question. "I had asked everyone this question. Most of them helped during the reconstruction of the world with Nemesis, Yu, and Hanzai actively hunting down the members of Ultimate Despair, others were said that they were too busy trying to recover from their traumas. So Haruka, were you in the former or were you from the latter? I am very much curious."

"I-I…" Haruka tried to let out her voice but images during the Tragedy came rushing back to her. Her breathing became erratic and her vision started distorting. Haruka felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Kazuma had arrived. The electronic musician had a rather dark look on his face, something that kind of unnerved Haruka. She didn't know that he could make an expression like that.

"Hey, Kasuka," Kazuma said with a rather dangerous edge in his voice as he glared at the psychologist. "Could you please stop asking that question? It's not nice to dig up other people's traumas. Also, not a lot of people like to talk about that event you know."

Kasuka shrugged his shoulders. "I was merely trying to satisfy my curiosity. I didn't mean to dig into some nasty traumas," He looked at Haruka who had started to recover and gave her a small smile. "I'm very sorry if I dug up some rather awful memories, Haruka."

Haruka took some deep breaths to calm herself down. "I-it's fine Kasuka, n-no need to worry about it. I-if it's about your q-question, I was out helping grow trees and crops."

"Crops? But aren't you a florist not a farmer?" Klara asked the florist.

"Y-yes but I do have some k-knowledge about taking care and growing other p-plants."

"Hmmmm," Kasuka hummed to himself. "I see."

"The overall plant population was brought down to quite low numbers," Klara commented. "Since plant life is necessary for human life to be sustained, I believe that you are quite the hero, Haruka."

"T-thanks, Klara," Haruka said finally managing to get her breathing even.

"Yes that was admirable, Haruka," Kazuma smiled. "You're one of the hopes of mankind."

Kasuka looked at Kazuma briefly catching a rather weird expression that crossed the electronic musician's face. Kasuka smiled.

"**Ahem! Mic test, mic test, is this thing on?" **A voice resounded at the garden. It was quite high pitched like a child on helium. It was very funny but also disturbing to be honest. **"Ahem to all students with in the Château please, I order you all to gather at the courtyard. I repeat to all students within the Château, I order you all gather at the courtyard. Those who fail to comply will be charged with treason against the king and will be punished accordingly."**

The announcement left a rather bleak air in the garden. They could rub the announcement as a prank but despite the fact that the voice sounded like a child on helium, it was most definitely serious. They had no other option but to go there. Kasuka pushed up his glasses and chuckled. "Now then, shall we meet our captor?"

The three of them had walked out of the garden and in to the courtyard. Naomi, Kenta, Nemesis, Tohka, and Petrove were already there. They all sat far away from each other with Petrove in the far back still withdrawn within her hood. Kasuka made eye contact Naomi smirks at her making the engimatologist glare at him in response.

_Oh, so Kasuka was the mysterious guy who solved Naomi's puzzles._

"Ciao," Nemesis greeted Haruka with a smile. The smile fades a bit when she saw that Haruka didn't look so lively. "Is there something wrong, mademoiselle?"

"O-oh it's nothing much," Haruka assures her. _I just remembered some rather unpleasant memories a while ago._

Nemesis narrowed her eyes. It seems that she knew something was up but decided to respect Haruka's privacy. Haruka decided to sit in one of the seats available in the courtyard. Sayuki had also arrived still wearing a rather confident smile. "Who summons the Cosmic Queen, Nymphara Demura!?" The actress loudly declares.

"Be quiet for a bit," Kasuka told the actress. He was working on a Rubik's Cube that had numbers in it instead of colors while Naomi watches on with a stopwatch on her hand. "I'm trying to concentrate."

_It seems that Naomi had given him a puzzle to solve._

Naomi smirked at Kasuka as he solved the puzzle. "Is it too hard for you?" Naomi said in mock sympathy. Kasuka opted to ignore her and worked her puzzle. "But that's okay, no need to try so hard we both know that it's impossible for you to solve."

Sayuki was rather offended at how he dismissed her and walks over to the duo. She looked like she was about to let Kasuka have it but stopped when she saw the Rubik's Cube that he was solving. "What kind of Rubik's Cube is this? It's filled with numbers instead of colors."

"It's a Sudoku Rubik's Cube," Kasuka answers as he worked on the puzzle on his hand. "It's a Rubik's Cube that was made by Naomi herself. Just as the name implies, it's a fusion between Sudoku and Rubik's cube. It's pretty easy to solve a normal Rubik's Cube due to the fact that it used colors so you just have to match them together. The Sudoku Rubik's Cube on the other hand, makes you use your math skills as you solve it. I have to say, it's really fun to solve. You seriously earned your title Naomi."

"O-of course I already know that but t-thanks anyway," Naomi cheeks flushed a bit. She cleared her throat when she noticed that Sayuki was giving her a rather sly grin. Naomi takes a look at the stop watch in her hand and smiles. "Well it seems that—"

"Done," Kasuka hands her the Rubik's Cube.

"W-what!?" Naomi looks at the Rubik's Cube with a shocked expression. She takes a look at all the sides before gritting her teeth and stuffing it back to her satchel.

"Kasuka managed to solve the puzzle in 55 seconds," Klara declared. "Just five minutes shy away from the time limit."

"So Naomi lost to him? That was some gloating a while ago now he made you eat your words!" Sayuki teased making the enigmatologist glare at her in response which made the actress giggle a bit.

"Well now don't be mean. She tried her best," Kasuka would've sounded more convincing if he didn't give enigmatologist a smirk not unlike the one that was plastered on her face a while ago. "Got anymore puzzles for me to solve? I might as well kill some time until everyone is here."

"No need for that since we're all here," Hanzai arrives with Genjiro, Amamiya, Ella, Dave, John, and Yu in tow. "Ella, Yu, and John didn't seem interested in coming so I decided to fetch them. We ran into Genjiro and Amamiya on the way here."

"This better be important," Ella grumbled, clearly unhappy at being summoned to the courtyard. "I was making chocolates that were shown to me by a prophetic chocolate vision. I have to work on them immediately for the future of chocolates."

"I believe this is rather important, Ella," John adjusted his glasses. "Our captor is about to reveal themselves after all."

"If they believe that they can trap me in this place they are mistaken," Genjiro declared. "No cage can contain a ninja like me."

"Why are you still here then?" Haruka asked causing the chuuninja to flinch. "Shouldn't you have found a way out of here and escaped? Or better yet, you could've discovered a route for all of us to escape to?"

"W-well that is—" the boy stammers.

"You couldn't actually find a way to escape right?" Haruka asked rather bluntly. "You're just trying to look cool."

"…" Genjiro visibly deflates. His chuuni image crumbles down a bit while Sayuki laughs at him.

"Wow, you're pretty blunt," Kasuka commented. "I didn't expect that."

"I-I didn't meant for it to come out like that," Haruka pouted as she fiddled with her scarf. "I'm so sorry, Genjiro."

The chuuninja immediately bounces back to his bravado. "Control that tongue of yours, woman. If you don't you just might incur the wrath of a ninja."

_Never in my life would I have thought that I would regret apologizing to anyone until now._

"Well then since everyone is here, I'll start with my thoughts on the identity of our captor," Hanzai declared.

"Finally something important," Yu said.

"Well then I believe—"

"**Whoa there hold your horses, Sherlock!" **The high pitched voice returned. There was a real tinge of irritation in it. **"You can't do the expositions! I'm the one doing the expositions here!"**

The voice caused everyone to tense and be on their guard. Everyone looked around the area hoping to find the source of the voice.

"Well," Kasuka scoffed. "Aren't you going to show yourself and do the exposition, Mr. Captor? We're waiting."

"**Impatient aren't you, kiddo?" **the voice chuckled. **"Well then, can't keep my subjects waiting forever!"**

Trumpets suddenly flared to life, surprising many. Petrove covers her ears to lessen the sound of the blaring trumpets. The center of the courtyard suddenly opened and a small tower emerged from it. From the top of said tower, something akin to a teddy bear stood. The teddy was black on the left side and white on the right side. The white side looked pretty much normal but the black side had a jagged red eye and a malicious grin. The black and white teddy bear had a crown on its head as well as a king's cape on its back. The bear held a scepter on its right hand. The bear looked pretty regal.

"A b-bear…" Petrove's eyes widened as she clutched her chest. Kasuka noticed that she looked like she was having difficulty breathing as well as that she was starting to sweat making the psychologist immediately go to her side.

"**Upupupupu! That's right!** **I am your king, the majestic Ōkuma!"** The bear said as it opens out its arms wide as if waiting for the students gathered to start giving him a fanfare. **"What? Not even a small round of applause for your king?"**

"A-a b-bear," Petrove's complexion begins to pale and the other students started to notice what's happening to her.

"W-what's wrong with her?" Haruka asked the worry in her voice evident.

"She's having a panic attack," Kasuka answered. He looked at the bear on top of the tower. "Probably because of that thing."

"**What? I'm a very beautiful bear. There's nothing to be afraid of, honey."**

Petrove's breathing worsened as she tried to withdraw back to her hood. Kasuka's eyes narrowed. "Oi, Kenta, give me your tie!"

Kenta immediately rushed towards them while removing his tie from his neck and giving it to Kasuka. Kasuka uses the tie to blindfold Petrove and pulls her hoodie down. Petrove's breathing started to even out as Kasuka rubs her back. "There, there it's okay. There is nothing to be afraid of. That bear isn't real and it can't harm you."

"**I'm pretty sure that—"**

"If you keep that up, you'll never get to the point," Nemesis said as her eyes narrowed towards the bear.

"**Yikes!" **Ōkuma does a mocking yelp. **"That's some scary glare, honey! No wonder you're the Super Inmate Level Mafia Boss. So scary!"**

"_Get to the point already," _Nemesis said in a rather dangerous manner.

"**Alright, alright," **Ōkuma sighed as it puts its paws on his sides. **"Seriously, this place is filled with problem children."**

The bear cleared its throat. **"Well then, I welcome you all to Château D'Death!"**

Haruka wanted to point out that the entire structure of the place as not that of a château but of a castle instead and that the name was also very edgy but relented since it might get them off topic once again.

"This is a castle though not a château," Naomi commented. "And the name's very edgy."

_Whelp, seems like I wasn't the only one who wanted to comment on it._

"…" Ōkuma was silent for a moment before mumbling something inaudible. The bear king once again cleared its throat. **"Continuing on before your King was rudely interrupted. All of you will now be living in this place for the rest of your lives!"**

"WHAT!?" Majority of the students' shout overlapped with each other.

"Keep it down," Kasuka scolded the others causing some to bow their heads in apology.

"**T'is as the king said! You all will continue living in this Château for the rest of your lives!" **Ōkuma announced like it was the most obvious thing in the world. **"Don't worry this place has all that you need to survived. You should all just cut your ties from the outside world!"**

"No way!" Dave growled. "You can't just come around and claim that we'll have to spend the rest of our lives in this place!"

"**What are you talking about, kiddo? I just did!"**

"There are still people who need our help out there!" Haruka exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's right!" Kenta agreed. "Who do you think you are!?"

"**Well then if you really want to leave, there is a way for you to do so."**

"Really?" John said while biting his gloves.

"**Of course! You just have to a rather simple task!"**

"I don't think I like where this is going," Tohka's eyes narrowed. Nemesis pulled her hat down as if to agree with the kenjutsu practitioner.

"Cut to the point and tell us the task!" Dave yelled angrily.

"**Well then the task is pretty simple," **Ōkuma's expression seemingly darkens as its red eye glowed sinisterly. **"All you have to do is murder someone and get away with it."**

It took the students some time to process the information that was given to them and when they did—

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY!?" Dave shouted in shock.

"**I said that to get out of here, you just have to kill someone here and get away with it," **Ōkuma said that as if it was just describing the weather. **"Are you really that much of an idiot to not understand that, kiddo?"**

"Enough with those jokes and let us out of here!" Dave yelled.

"**Jokes? Do I LOOK like I'm joking to you?"** The bear asked dangerously causing the bassist to step back a bit. **"You can whine, cry, beg, or call for your mother in this place but it won't change reality. This is your new life now. Either cut your ties from the rest of the world or participate in the Château Killing Game!"**

"A Killing Game…" Kasuka placed a hand on his chin. "You mean those sick games that the Ultimate Despair forces people to play?"

"**Right-o, kiddo!"**

"I don't believe this," Naomi said dismissively. "How can some stupid cowardly bear wearing some stupid lame king outfit, who can't even stand on the same ground level with the rest of us, force us into a Killing Game."

"**Well wasn't that was a mouthful. I'm impressed, cutie," **The bear laughed as Naomi growled at the sarcastic insult. **"Also, why should the king stand on the same ground as you? A king is one who looks down not one who looks up."**

Ōkuma eyed the students from the tower. Tohka was reaching for her shinai, Yu pulled a dagger hidden in his sleeve, Amamiya was preparing her shurikens, and Nemesis' eyes looked really really scary. **"There also seems to be a fair amount of rather violent students here, which is good and all but I'll stay here so I wouldn't have to execute anyone for breaking the rules early. And speaking of rules, here!"**

A table emerged from the ground. On the table were, 16 cellphone like objects, each one had the logo of their schools on it. There were two for Mochizuki, one white and one black presumably for Amamiya and Genjiro to know which one is theirs. **"These babies are your Electro IDs! Each of them contains your name and other information. You can view the rules within those IDs. They also act as keys to rooms and other various places in the Château. Plus it has a map of the currently available floors! Aren't they great?"**

The students began taking their Electro IDs from the table. Haruka takes both Kasuka's and Petrove's Electro IDs and went to hand it to them.

"Thanks," Kasuka said while Haruka just nods her head. "Here," He hands Petrove's hers as he takes of Kenta's tie off of her and hands it back to the event organizer.

"T-thank you," Petrove said meekly.

"**Upupupupu, that was a rather pathetic display, honey," **Ōkuma laughed while Petrove just turned away. **"Having a panic attack in the first day? You're seriously painting a huge target on your back!"**

Haruka ignored the bear and opened her Electro ID. The ID displayed her name, school, and title first before showing a menu. The menu had the options of map, profile, point balance, and rules. Haruka picked the third option and the ID displays the rules of the château.

**[Rules of the Château]**

**Occupants are to stay and live their lives in the Ch****âteau. Leaving the Château is strictly prohibited and is waste of time.**

**When a murder is committed, a trial will be held after a period of investigation.**

**If the blackened is identified correctly in the trial, the blackened will receive an appropriate punishment**

**If the blackened cannot be identified, or an incorrect occupant is identified, the rest of the occupants will be the one to get punished.**

**A blackened who survives the trial is declared winner and gains the right to leave Château.**

**Nighttime" is officially designated as the hours between 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM. All water will stop running during Nighttime.**

**Violence against the King, ****Ōkuma, is strictly prohibited.**

**All items from the storage room are free to use but do not break them as they are property of the King.**

**Occupants can buy the items from the château using their points.**

**The occupants can explore the château as they see fit.**

**Once a murder occurs, a body discovery announcement will play when three or more occupants discover a body.**

**If two different murders by two different murderers occur at the same time, only the one whose victim was found first will be the blackened.**

**If a blackened is killed before the trial, the occupant who killed that blackened will be the new blackened.**

**Any students who break the rules will be punished accordingly.**

**The King may impose new rules to the list at any time.**

The occupants swallowed. Hanzai pushes up his glasses and looks up towards the bear. "I have a few questions."

"**Go ahead and shoot, Sherlock," **The bear replied. **"Preferably one of the other occupants."**

Hanzai ignored the second part and pushed up his glasses. "Having investigated some of the copycat Killing Games last year, I've come across some similarities in those games' rules. The current set of rules resembles all of them except for some."

"**Aaaaaannnnnd….?"**

"Those rules had a two victim limit and locked areas during Nighttime. Each Killing Games I've investigated has those in their rules. This game however does not," Hanzai's gaze sharpened. "Why is that?"

"**To ramp up the stakes of course! If one of you bastards wants to kill all the occupants, go ahead! If you can that is!" **the bear king laughed.

"Okay then," Hanzai sighed in exasperation. "What about those points? What are they for?"

"**Other than buying stuff in the store? You can pay points for limited time privileges and the Kuma Gacha! Be sure to try that, it has many prizes in it!"**

_Like hell I'm going to spend things on gacha, _Haruka sweatdropped.

"I see, then how do we gain points?" Hanzai continued.

"**My you really have a lot of questions," **Ōkuma said. **"You gain five hundred points during the start of each day. You also gain points from successfully surviving Trials."**

"Hmmmm," Hanzai placed a hand on his chin. "Well I guess I've gotten the information that I needed then."

"**Well if there are no more questions to be asked, your king will now be on his way!" **the bear kings a puff of smoke, the bear disappeared leaving them in an uneasy atmosphere. Each one of them looked at one another with distrust in their eyes.

This is their reality now.

**[Author's Note:]**

**This was originally going to be longer but I decided to split it. So the bad news is that this chapter is pretty short but the good news is the next one might come faster.**

**Thanks to all those who read this story and special thanks to MudkipOfDespair for beta reading this chapter.**


	4. 1: Song of Despair, All in your head I

**[Chapter 01: A Song of Despair, All in your head]**

**Date: April 15, 2020**

**Time: 7:00 PM**

"So," Kenta decided to break the unbearable silence. "What now?"

Nobody could answer the planner's question. They were all still covered by the dreadful atmosphere, until someone cleared their throat. The occupants turned towards that person, Kazuma. Kazuma gave them all a warm and confident smile. "Don't worry guys! As long as we band together, we can beat this despair!"

"But," Dave started but Kazuma had anticipated that.

"We just need to trust in each other and have hope!" Kazuma declared with a bright smile. "As long as we have those, we can never lose to despair!"

Kazuma's words started to resonate with some of them. Most of the occupants including Haruka nodded at the proclamation and agreed. The atmosphere started to change a bit towards a more positive tone. However—

"You've got that wrong, kiddo," Kasuka pushed up his glasses.

"No," Ella followed up while fiddling with her hair.

"Impossible," Yu nodded as he adjusted his parka.

"Don't try deluding yourselves," Naomi spat and turned away.

"That's pretty naïve," Tohka huffed.

"I may not understand a lot of things but I'm pretty sure that trusting strangers is a big no," Klara spoke out from Kasuka's cellphone. Haruka had almost forgotten that she was there.

"Eh?" Kazuma's eyes widened.

"Don't you understand kiddo?" Kasuka said as he adjusted his glasses. "The biggest threat here isn't our captor or whatever they have in store for us. The biggest threat to each of us here is—"

"—ourselves," Naomi finished for him.

"We're here trapped with strangers who we don't really know well enough," Tohka said.

"Though you can say that we should trust and believe in each other, we don't really know if one of us hasn't already considered killing someone," Yu closed his eyes and sighed.

"There's been multiple copycat Killing Games," Kasuka said. "Who's to say that they didn't try to cooperate with each other?"

"B-But, we are not going to be like them," Haruka said. "We can beat the mastermind by banding together and fighting back."

"Do you really think that?" Naomi countered. "The mastermind seems to have a lot of tricks up their sleeves. Who's to say that they can't kill all of us right now?"

"Still—" Petrove started.

"If you people keep that up, you're going to find yourselves dead," Yu said as he walked away from the group. "I'm going to re-explore the château, see ya."

Kasuka, Ella, Naomi, Tohka, and Hanzai decided to follow his example and walked away from the group. The rest were left with a really horrible atmosphere among them.

_Thanks a lot, you jackasses, _Haruka thought.

Kenta sighed. "Why don't we go re-exploring this place like Yu? Perhaps there's something that we missed."

"Y-you guys can go on ahead," Petrov said as she pulled back her hood. "I-I think I'll go to my room. The map said that the rooms are at the side of the flower garden. The right side is the boys' rooms while left side is the girls' rooms."

"Okay then," Haruka waved the mountain climber goodbye as she went on her way.

"If we're done, let's go re-exploring this place," Kenta said. "Since there's nine of us here, let's group ourselves into three. Then after that, we could regroup in the dining area to share what we found in our investigation. Would that be okay?"

The others nodded at his suggestion. The more people in the group, the harder it would be for a person to get killed, since there would most likely be someone to stop it. The first group consisted of Dave, Sayuki, and Nemesis. The second one had John, Genjiro, and Amamiya. Lastly, the third group was the group of Kenta, Kazuma, and Haruka.

"Seems like the three of us are back together again," Haruka chuckled.

"Would've been better if there were four groups with four people," Kazuma said. "We should cooperate so that we can beat this despair."

"Well, it's not like they didn't have a point though," Kenta sighed.

"I guess dwelling around won't help us," Kazuma sighed. "Well then, let's start the investigation."

* * *

**Location: Library**

**Time: 7:33 PM**

Dave honestly felt like he'd drawn the short end of the stick when it came to the groupings.

He was currently in the library with the _mafia boss_ and an airhead actress that was _enthusiastically _talkingto said mafia boss. Dave was very sure that not anyone would actually be this enthusiastic when talking to someone like Nemesis.

"So, Nemi," Sayuki said, her eyes sparkling. "What was the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles like?"

"It was hell," Nemesis replied in a tone like she was describing the weather. "The students were unstable. There were daily riots and fights, teachers were assholes, things get stolen regularly, and most students usually get scammed or tricked into breaking one of the rules. The school even had five infirmaries each with ten beds. If only two of the infirmaries were filled in by the end of the day, that was considered a rather peaceful day because in a regular day all of the beds of those five infirmaries would be filled."

_Holy shit, _Dave inwardly winced.

"Wow!" Sayuki beamed. "And you went there!? That's so awesome!"

_I guess there are two kinds of people in this world, _Dave sweatdropped.

"Heh thanks," Nemesis said as she looked at the files on the shelves. She picked one off the shelves. The book had the title of 'S.T.S 37th class Student files'.

"_S.T.S…that's Kasuka's school," _Nemesis thought. She proceeded to flip through the pages of the files. There was a comedian, a teacher's assistant, a politician, a writer, a barber, etc.. She also saw a kunoichi, Nemesis wondered if Amamiya knew the girl.

She found Kasuka's student information but it was all blank. The only thing that was on it was his picture. "What the?"

"**Hoho," **Ōkuma appeared before them, this time on the same ground as them. Nemesis considered giving him a good kick on the face but the rules prevented her from doing so. She sighed. **"You didn't really think that I would hand out your student information like that now, did you?"**

"What do you want?" Dave said.

"**Your king just wanted to tell you that this library contains lots of books and information like all other libraries! There are even Killing Game files in this place, including the copycat ones!"**

_It's not like there's anyone here other than Hanzai or maybe Kasuka that would be interested in those, _Nemesis thought.

"**But this place will not contain any of the château occupants information," **Ōkuma informed them. **"The game wouldn't be fun if I did that."**

"You say game but this is just people killing other people isn't it? That's nothing but murder," Sayuki said as she bit some of her bangs. "That's false advertising you know? I thought we were going to kill some monsters or aliens."

_Is she being serious right now? _Nemesis and Dave sweatdropped at Sayuki's words.

"**Stop living in fiction you drama queen. I swear, honey. The only thing about you that's mature is your body," **Ōkuma sighed. **"Well I gotta go. There are places your king needs to be in right now."**

Before they could ask the bear about that, it disappeared again in a puff of smoke.

"Maybe that bear is a wizard who transformed into a bear," Sayuki said as she placed a finger on her cheek. "He's a walking teddy bear and he gets to places via teleportation, he must be a wizard."

"I was wondering whose mouth was spewing nonsensical things but it was just you guys," the trio turned towards the source of the voice. It was Kasuka and he had two laptops nooked in one of his arms.

"Salutations!" Klara greeted from the cellphone that hung on his neck.

"What a way to greet us," Dave glared at the psychologist who just shrugged.

"Hey, Kasuka we found your—," Nemesis started to say but Kasuka interrupted her.

"If it's about the student information of the 37th Class of S.T.S, don't bother. I've already read it," Kasuka said. "My information was blank right? I kind of appreciate it to be honest. I would be more vulnerable if it was out and open for everyone, wouldn't you agree honey?"

Nemesis just smirked. "Of course. All of us have secrets that we'd like to keep to ourselves after all."

"Well then, Klara and I are off to take a look at these computers," Kasuka pushed up his glasses and chuckled. "They might contain more information regarding the Killing Games and this place."

"Do you even have knowledge with computers and programming?" Dave asked with a skeptical look on his face.

Kasuka pulled out a book. The book had the title of _'What you need to know about computers, programming, inventing, and shit'_ by Miu and Chihiro Fujisaki. "Don't worry kiddo, I have this guide with me. The title may be a bit crude and weird but it's made by two geniuses."

"Alright!" Klara gave them a salute. "I wish you three luck! That's what people say when they part ways right?"

"Yeah, it's a better alternative to goodbye when the person you're telling that to is also doing something."

"Yay! I'm starting to understand humans a little more!" Klara pumped her fists.

"Good job," Kasuka gave out a smile.

"You're really close with your Digi Girlfriend," Sayuki commented.

"…what?" Kasuka gave her an incredulous look.

"Don't worry, Kasuka," Sayuki smiled. "Despite the fact that you're pretty plain, I'm pretty sure that Nao has at least some interest in you so you don't have to settle for a girl in your cell phone."

"…" Kasuka just gave her a flat look before going off on his way. Nemesis was trying to hold back some laughter as Dave had a wry smile in his face.

"Did I say something wrong?" Sayuki smiled all knowing what she said wrong.

"To be honest, I feel like you might be a real piece of work," Dave sighed.

Sayuki giggled. "I'm going to help Kaga with those computers. I may not look like it but I'm quite good with them."

The mischievous smile on her face told them that helping was not the only thing in her mind.

* * *

**Location: North Area, Past the Flower Garden**

**Time: 7:55 PM**

"This place is kind of big," John said as he walked on the north side hallway with Amamiya and Genjiro.

[Our captor must have some budget in his pockets] Amamiya wrote.

"It matters not if they have money," Genjiro declared. "They would fall to my skills as fast as a rock sinks into the bottom of the ocean. That's why they hide behind the mechanical bear, they are afraid that I would end them immediately."

[You say that but do you even have these ninja skills that you boast of? can you even perform a Shukuchi?] Amamiya pointed out.

"O-of course I can!" Genjiro looked offended. He demonstrated the technique by moving from his position to another in a single step. John clapped in amazement while Amamiya had a frown on her face.

[Can you do it to the point where it looks like this though?] Amamiya suddenly disappeared from their sights. Genjiro and John looked around to find her. Genjiro yelped when he felt a tap on his shoulders. He quickly turned around to see Amamiya looking at him with a disappointed expression.

[Wow, such skill] Genjiro's pulled his mask up to hide his quickly reddening face.

"Alright guys let's get along," John mediated. "Especially since you two are the only ones who are actually from the same school."

Kira and Genjiro turned away from each other. John sweatdropped at the sight. "A-alright, how about we talk about your school? Mochizuki Premier Academy right?"

[Oh that? It's nothing much. The school is rather bent on preserving the Japanese tradition. Even if you had talent, you won't be able to enter that school if you're not pure-blood Japanese. I was almost not accepted due to the fact that I had brown eyes as opposed to the normal black hair, black eyes of most pure-bloods. It was hard but I eventually managed to get in the school.]

"Oh, that's a pretty tight requirement," John commented as they walked in the hallway. They eventually managed to find a large red door. There were two other hallways but the red door basically managed to capture their attention. The door had a large Ōkuma face symbol in it.

"Hmph," Genjiro looked at the red door. "It seems that we have found our captors hiding place. Now for their judgement."

"**You've got that wrong, kiddo!" **Ōkuma suddenly appeared before them. **"The room behind this door right here isn't my hiding place."**

"Oh it's you," John rolled his eyes.

"**Come on kiddo. Don't be like that to your king. Your king is a nice and benevolent bear. I'm just here to say that this door isn't the door to my hiding place. That would be too anti-climactic."**

[Then what's this door for?]

"**Oh honey, I think you already have a good idea on what."**

"The trial," Genjiro narrowed his eyes. "That despicable trial in which everyone will determine who the culprit is to send them to their death."

"**Bingo! You're not such a total idiot after all, kiddo."**

"Too bad then," John scoffed. "That trial room will never be used 'cause we're not gonna kill each other."

"**Oh kiddo, that's what they all say before killing each other," **Ōkuma laughed as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I hate that bear," John summarized pretty much what everyone felt towards the bear.

[Let's continue exploring] Amamiya suggested as she went towards the left hallway. They walked in silence for pretty much the entire time but as they keep walking they started to hear some clashing; which grew louder as they walked. The trio sprinted towards the sound and came across a door on the left side. Amamiya quickly kicked the door open and the sight that greeted them was that of a theatre but what caught their attention was—

—the sight Tohka and Yu fighting. Tohka had two wooden swords in her hands while Yu had a short wooden sword in his. The two were practically evenly matched. Yu was a lot faster but Tohka was much more skilled with the sword. She was currently using the Niten Ichi-Ryuu, the sword technique of the famous Miyamoto Musashi, and she was using it masterfully. Yu couldn't find an opening but he always managed to get away when Tohka was about to counterattack.

"What are you two doing!?" John frantically yelled. His question fell to deaf ears as Yu charged in to strike. Tohka just stood there waiting for him. The assassin struck, but Tohka disappeared. Yu's eyes widened before he saw Tohka reappear before him. The kenjutsu practitioner slammed her left sword on his hand and knocked his weapon away. She followed by striking the assassin's shoulder with her right sword.

"Heh, I lost huh," the assassin smiles. "You're not bad."

"I could say the same to you," Tohka said as she picked up her sword case and put back her wooden swords in it. "You don't have a specific sword style so it was really hard to counter your confusing fighting style."

"Thank you for that compliment."

"Uhhhhh, what happened?" John asked, dumbfounded. The two finally noticed the trio and walked towards them.

"Nothing much," Yu said. "She just wanted a spar that's all."

"I needed to clear my head a bit," Tohka followed up. "He was with me so I asked him to be my sparring partner."

[How can we be sure that you two weren't trying to kill each other?]

"Yes, precisely," Genjiro nodded in agreement. "You could very well be engaged in a duel where your blades were out for blood."

"If that was the case, I'd be using a real blade," Yu scoffed. "A wooden sword is too much of an inefficient weapon to be used for killing."

"The best it could do is give the victim would be a concussion," Tohka agreed.

"Even so…" Genjiro seemed unconvinced.

[By the way Tohka] Amamiya tilted her head. [What was that that happened?]

"Hm?" Tohka gave her a questioning look as she went to pick up her haori.

[Shukuchi is rapid movement often used to close distance between you and your opponent. You, however, created distance between Yu and yourself before attacking.]

"Oh that?" Tohka picked up her haori. "That's just a technique that was passed down to the students at the dojo. They called it 'Hayate'. It's just some modified version of Shukuchi."

[Is that so?]

"You have to be careful when using it, however. Rapid movements can cause the body some strain."

"If your body couldn't handle the technique then you obviously shouldn't use it," Genjiro commented.

[Big words coming from someone who's not an expert at rapid movements] Amamiya gave him a deadpan look.

"Gh…" Genjiro turned away and pulled his mask up. It's really hard to keep the 'cool edgy ninja image' up when you're surrounded by people who can really pass up as ninjas.

* * *

**Location: South Area**

**Time: 8:30 PM**

The south area was pretty plain compared to the other areas. It was basically just a pathway leading to two towers. The right tower was white while the right tower was black. There was a fountain in the middle which seems like a waste of space. A set of stairs that leads to the underground area was at the right side accompanied by two Ōkuma statues holding what seemed to be unlit torches.

"What's the point of this place?" Haruka asked no one in particular.

"Careful now," Kazuma chided her. "You might just—"

"**Did I hear you ask for answers, honey?" **Ōkuma predictably arrives before Kazuma could finish his sentence.

"—summon the bear," Kazuma sighed.

"What do you want?" Kenta glared at the bear king.

"**Man, I am just not welcome here," **the bear faked a sob. **"Well, whatever kiddo. I heard someone ask for answers so here I am! Most of the areas, like the towers, here are still locked so I can't explain that to you. I can, however, tell you that that particular set of stairs with two magnificent statues at its side leads to the dungeon! And past the dungeon is the trash room!"**

"Why is there a dungeon here?" Haruka said as she played with her hair a bit.

"**Nothing much honey, just for aesthetic reasons," **Ōkuma replied as it tilted its head. **"But if you want to toss one of the more problematic occupants without killing them, feel free to do so! I won't recommend it though, it's better to just kill the problem after all!"**

"I see," Haruka gave the bear a rather cold look. "You've answered the question now go away. Your presence is repugnant."

"**Ouch," **Ōkuma sulked. **"Not only do you have a sharp tongue honey, you also have no regard for other people's feelings."**

_This is the one time I appreciate my bluntness. Never thought that that would happen, _Haruka thought. "I care about others' feelings but not yours."

"**Harsh. But honey if you keep that up, I might start enjoying it!" **The bear disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"Hm?" Hanzai emerged from the stairs. "I swear that I saw the bear for a split second there."

"Oh hey, Hanzai!" Kenta called out to the crime scene investigator. "Did you find anything?"

"Nothing worth of note," Hanzai said as he pushed up his glasses. "It was just a dungeon and a trash room there."

"That bear wasn't lying after all," Kazuma placed a hand on his chin.

"Yes, the bear does not lie," Hanzai nodded. "The bear is very much keen on having us kill one another."

"There has to be a way right?" Haruka frowned and held her scarf tightly. "I don't want us to distrust and kill one another."

"You have to accept this is our current reality, Haruka," Hanzai said. "You can't just trust anyone here."

"But being paranoid of everyone would also be bad don't you think?" Haruka said.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing good will come out of doubting everyone," Haruka said. "You need to trust people. I always believe that there is good in everyone. You could say that it is a naïve way of thinking and I won't deny that but I will stand by this belief."

"Is that so?" Hanzai closed his eyes and walked away. It was barely visible but Haruka could see a tiny smile tug on his lips.

"You're quite optimistic despite all of this," Kenta commented.

"Nothing comes from being down all the time," Haruka smiled weakly. "If you keep being doubtful all of the time, it would just make you and those around you miserable and feeling down. That's not a good thing, especially in this situation. The one behind this would definitely take advantage of that, so I have to keep my spirits up."

Kazuma gave her a bright smile. "You're really bright aren't you, Haruka. I feel like you can make us stick together and band against despair with that hope."

"I-I don't think I can do that!" Haruka waved her hands frantically as a blush crept on her face. "Aside from my talent, I'm just a normal girl."

"You should believe in yourself more," Kazuma encouraged as he leaned in. Haruka turned away a little bit while pulling her scarf up to hide her face a bit.

"That's enough flirting," Kenta cleared his throat. "Don't invade a girl's personal space too much, Kazuma."

The electronic musician backs away and rubbed the back of his head with a wry smile. "Ahaha, sorry about that."

"N-No it's fine, don't worry about it," Haruka said.

The pair awkwardly laughed together.

_I feel like a third wheel,_ Kenta sweatdropped.

* * *

**Location: Store/Storage Room**

**Time: 9:17 PM**

"Not another karakuri," Naomi groaned as she got a third karakuri from the gacha. It was a karakuri crafted by some person named Komori Matsuri. Whoever the hell that was, Naomi had no idea.

She looked at the prizes she had won in the gacha. Rei Makoto's performance videos, a ray gun that doesn't work because apparently it didn't have its special batteries, a silver mask, a copy of Killer Killer's note, two more karakuris (also made by Komori Matsuri), a voice changing bowtie, a broken glass ball, and a so called 'Devil Dog Earring'.

They were all trash.

Normally she wouldn't be the one to use the gacha but there was one prize in the list that really caught her eye.

The Escape Switch, the ultimate prize. There was a 0.000000001% of getting it according to the prize list. It seems impossible and maybe there was a chance that it's fake but she tried anyways.

"**Seems like someone's really fond of the gacha," **Ōkuma appeared next to her.

"What do you want?" Naomi asked irritated.

"**Nothing much, cutie"** the bear taps its scepter to the ground. **"I just noticed that you're really determined into getting that switch."**

"I see," Naomi closed her eyes. "You're here to annoy me."

"**Bingo!" **the bear laughed. **"I admire your determination in getting that prize but I don't think you can win it. Maybe if you were the Ultimate Luck there might be a chance but you aren't."**

"I don't have time for you," the enigmatologist stood up and grabbed her prizes. They may not be what she wanted but they were still hers. She wondered what she could do with them though.

"**Oh cutie, you're so cold! You break your king's heart!" **the bear dramatically said as he proceeded to disappear in a puff of smoke.

"I wish you're the one that broke instead," Naomi groaned. She went out of the store/storage room and went towards the dining hall.

The dining hall currently had majority of the students in it. Naomi smelled something good, so perhaps John or Ella, or maybe both were at the kitchen right now.

Kasuka and Sayuki were at the table around the corner, both typing on a laptop. Kasuka's phone was connected to the laptop he was working on, presumably having Klara help him. He also had a book open by his side.

Hanzai sat alone reading what seems to be a mystery book. He had a coffee mug by his side. The mug was filled with sugar cubes to the point that it made Naomi wonder if he was drinking the sugar cubes itself.

Tohka, Yu, Genjiro, and Amamiya sat together drinking tea. Genjiro looked like he was really trying hard to fit in though.

Nemesis sat with Dave while tapping her fingers on the table while a bored look was plastered on her face. Dave seems to be trying to write a song but was having trouble with it.

"Oh hey, it's Naomi," Naomi turned around and saw Haruka, Kenta, and Kazuma. It was basically the same trio from a while ago. "Those are a lot of interesting stuffs."

"Of course!" Naomi said proudly. "I was the one who obtained them after all!"

"They all seem like they're garbage to us right now though," Haruka didn't mince her words. "I don't think they can help in our current situation."

"…"

"Sorry."

"Whatever," Naomi decided to go towards Kasuka and Sayuki's table.

"Oh hey, cutie," Kasuka greeted her. The enigmatologist glared at him which made the psychologist laugh a bit. He looked at the stuff that was with Naomi and chuckled. "That's quite a lot of stuff."

"Indeed but as Haruka said, they're worthless to us right now."

"Hm?" Kasuka's eyes narrowed. "Hey aren't those karakuris made by Komori Matsuri?"

"Yes they are," Naomi sighed as she placed what she won on the table.

"Can I have at least one of them?" Kasuka asked. "I've always wanted one."

"Sure go ahead," Naomi said as she pushed the dolls towards Kasuka. "Actually you can have them all if you want."

"Whoa thanks, cutie," Kasuka smiled.

"Stop calling me that," the enigmatologist sighed as she massaged her temples.

Hanzai looked up from his book and scanned the dining hall. "Is everyone here?"

"Petrove isn't," Kenta said. "I think she's still in her room."

"Somebody go fetch her," Hanzai ordered. "I want everyone here before we start on discussing things."

_What is there to discuss? _Naomi thought.

"I'll go get her," Kasuka stood up. "Continue with cracking that computer without me for a while, Klara."

"Roger that, Kasuka!" The digital girl saluted.

* * *

**Location: Petrove's Room**

**Time: 9:20 PM**

_Way to go showing everyone your vulnerable side to everyone like that, Kira, _Petrove sighed as she lay on her bed. She had taken off her coat and was currently wearing a long black sweatshirt. Her goggles lied down the table at the side of her bed.

She suddenly heard knocking on her door causing her to jump a bit. She hesitated for a moment until the knocking returned and this time she can tell that the person knocking was getting irritated. She slowly moves towards the door with pillow in hand in case it was someone planning a murder.

"Hello?" She said cautiously as she prepared to open the door.

"It's me honey," Kasuka's voice sounded from the other side.

"Kasuka? What are you doing here?"

"Why honey, I'm here to kill you of course. I even knocked instead of going for a sneak attack just to be polite."

"…please cut it out with the sarcasm and tell me why you're really here," Petrove said as she opened the door.

"Everyone's gathered at the dining hall," the psychologist pushed up his glasses. "Seems like Hanzai wants us all in there."

"I see," the mountain climber said. "Give me a second. I'll just go get my coat."

"You got a really big target painted up your back right now huh," Kasuka's cold voice caused the mountain climber to halt.

"…"

"What made you afraid of bears? So afraid that you would have a panic attack whenever you see them?"

"I-I…" Awful memories came rushing back to Petrove. Her breathing started to hitch a bit before she heard Kasuka sigh.

"Whatever, you don't have to answer immediately," Kasuka said. "But we are going to have to talk about that tomorrow if you want to cure your trauma."

"Eh?" Petrove turned around with a confused look on her face.

"If you keep having a panic attack like that whenever you see a bear or something similar, it's going to be a problem for all us since the mouthpiece of our captor is a bear," Kasuka explained. "I do have some knowledge in treating traumas. It's the reason why I was travelling the world last year after all."

"You were helping people?" Petrove looked at him suspiciously.

"Do I not look the part?" Kasuka asked innocently

"Yes," Petrove didn't pull any punches.

"Honesty, that's good," Kasuka chuckled and pushed his glasses up again. "Now go get your coat so we can get going."

Petrove grabbed and put on her coat and goggles. She got out of the room and went to the dining hall with the psychologist.

"I've brought her," Kasuka said as they entered the dining hall. He went back to his seat and began working on the laptop again. Petrove follows him and sat next to Naomi.

"And you brought her just in time!" John comes out of the kitchen with a cart filled with delicious looking breads and pastries like cupcakes, sweet buns, meat pies, etc.. Ella follows with a tray of various sweets. They served the food to each of the students with a smile.

"Never thought I'd be eating bread and sweets for dinner," Nemesis chuckled as she took a bite out of the bread. Her expression turned blissful as she touched her cheek with a blush, an expression that totally didn't fit a mafia boss. "It's so good!"

"I don't usually like chocolate but these are really delicious," Tohka nodded.

"That is to be expected," Ella said proudly. "I, the one who shall advance the future of chocolates, was the one who made them after all! Even if you hate chocolate, I assure you, you'll end up begging for more after a tiny bite!"

_If she didn't have the skills to back it up, I might have something to say about that, _Haruka thought while taking another bite out of her chocolate.

"I'm really jealous right now," Klara grumbled. "I wish I can at least take a bite."

"Even if you did have a body, I don't think you can eat since you'll have a mechanical body," Kasuka said. "After all, robots can't eat."

"Then can I have an organic body instead?"

"I don't think anyone here is skilled enough to make something like that."

Klara just grumbled again in response.

Hanzai stood up and chugged the contents of his mug. "Alright since we're all here, let's discuss our current predicament."

"Is there really anything to discuss?" Yu said as he ate a cupcake.

"Let's discuss what we found while re-exploring this place," Hanzai declared. "I'll go first, most of the areas in the south are still locked. The dungeon and trash room is also located there. The trash room has an incinerator."

"Wow," Nemesis said. "A way to dispose of evidence, how thoughtful."

"Ignoring that rather helpful comment," Hanzai sarcastically said. "Does anyone else have something to share?"

"There's a theatre in the north area," Yu reported. "Basically it's like the theatres in most Europe. Rather grand, there was even a V.I.P area, despite the fact that there are no V. in this place."

"The Library contains lots of information including those of past Killing Games as well as copycat ones," Dave said. "They don't contain any personal information regarding us though."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Tohka nodded. "I don't want my personal information made public after all."

"Still no luck in finding a way out huh," Hanzai bit his thumb.

"Actually there is," Naomi said causing everyone to turn to her.

"Whoa wait there is!?" Dave excitedly said.

"Er, well there's an Escape Switch prize in the gacha," Naomi explained. "But the chances are pretty low considering that there's only a 0.000000001% chance of getting it."

The group visibly deflates. Except for Kazuma, who stood up with a confident expression on his face.

"Come one guys, let's win that Escape Switch!" Kazuma encouraged them. "Even if it's only a 0.000000001% chance it's still a chance isn't it!?"

"There's also a chance that it's a prank by Ōkuma, kiddo," Kasuka countered as he looked up from his laptop. "Think about it for a second, why would that bear put an Escape Switch in a gacha? Not only that but with a very low chance of getting it too. He obviously wants you to aim for that prize and watch your hope get crushed little by little. He might even be lying and there's actually no Escape Switch."

Naomi opened her mouth to say something but was immediately cut off by the psychologist's AI companion.

"There's also a chance that the Escape Switch is fake. Maybe it would just give you an electrical shock if you pressed it."

…

"We…certainly cannot deny that possibility," Hanzai gritted his teeth as he pushed up his glasses.

"So up in the end, the only way to escape is by murder," Nemesis said as twirled her fedora with her finger.

"…" some of them really wanted to refute that sentence but found that they couldn't. A heavy atmosphere settled in.

_*SLAM*_

Most of them were broken out of their stupor by Hanzai slamming his hand onto the table.

"I assure you that no murders will happen," Yu said with a determined expression. "As long as I am here, I will not let anyone resort to killing. I swear it as DSC 901."

"DSC?" Petrove asked.

"The Detective Shelf Collection," Nemesis said wide eyed. "Detectives register in something that is known as the Detective Library. The Detective Library contains files on 65,000 detectives and also has their information made public so people know which detective to call for their problems."

"What's with the numbers then?" Dave asked as he ate a meat pie.

"It signifies their specialty and ranks," Kasuka pushed up his glasses in interest. "The first number signifies their specialty, which the second number going into a bit more into detail with that specialty. The third number is basically their rank. The fact that he has a zero in his DSC number is certainly very impressive."

"The lower the number the higher the rank, a zero in their DSC certainly shows how much their skill as a detective goes," Yu nodded. "I'm very impressed."

"As I said," Hanzai cleared his throat. "As long as I'm here, not a single murder will happen."

"Can you really keep that promise though," Nemesis said as she puts on her fedora again.

"I will," Hanzai said with a determined expression. "And I definitely won't fail."

"You're raising all kinds of death flags right now," Sayuki commented.

"Perhaps," the crime scene investigator closed his eyes. "But I will not back down. I will solve the secrets of this place and I will save you all."

***Ding Dong* *Ding Dong***

"**Ahem," **A large holographic screen suddenly appeared featuring Ōkuma's face. **"Attention kiddos! It is now 10 PM meaning it is now officially nighttime! You're all still free to explore this place but do remember that one of the other occupants might just do you in!"**

"We'll continue our discussions for tomorrow," Hanzai sighed. "All of you go back to your rooms and get some rest for now. It's been a rather long day after all."

The occupants started to get up from their seats and making their way towards their room. Haruka saw Hanzai take some of sweet breads and chocolate with him.

"Thank you for your help, Sayuki," Kasuka bowed his head a bit as he thanked the actress. "I didn't expect you to be skilled in computers."

"Of course!" the actress puffed her chest. "What else would you expect from the great Cosmic Queen, Nymphara Demura!? Ohohohohoho!"

The actress 'ohohohoho'd as she went to her room.

_Maybe shutting up with your delusions, _Haruka bit back the remark.

"Man," Klara spoke up from Kasuka's phone. "Cracking that computer was kind of hard. And this is despite the fact that I was also trying to crack it. I at least deserve some praise for my hard work!"

"Yes, yes you did a good job at trying to crack it," Kasuka sighed. "Let's continue tomorrow."

The psychologist followed the actress' example and made his way to his room all the while Klara was singing herself praises.

"Sayuki might have rubbed on her a bit," Haruka mumbled to herself as she made her way to her room as well. The rooms were at the side of the flower garden, if she remembered correctly the girls' rooms was located at the left side. She walked a bit more before reaching a room that had her name in it.

The room was pretty plain when she opened it. There was a bed, a desk, a lamp. It also had a closet, a drawer, and a shower room. There was also a rather large trash chute, large enough for a human to fit into.

"This room has really dead atmosphere in it," Haruka sighed.

"**You can always liven it up, honey,"** Haruka shrieked a bit before turning around. Ōkuma was there. **"Man that was some reaction! You should've seen your face honey!"**

"What do you want?"

"**Oh nothing much, honey,"** the bear king walked back and forth. **"Just here to say that if you want your room to have some life in it, you can always buy decorations using your points."**

"Points huh," Haruka checked her points balance. The point balance was currently at 10,000 pts. "10,000…you're kind of generous."

"**Of course, the more points the better equipment you can get for your perfect murder!"** the bear puffed out of existence. Haruka really hoped that it was permanent but she wasn't getting her hopes up anytime soon.

The florist sighed, locked the door and just flopped onto her bed. The day had been tiresome and she need some sleep. Her eyes slowly closed as she hoped that she wouldn't have any nightmares tonight.

* * *

**[Château Killing Game: Day 01 End]**

**[Student****s**** Alive: 16]**

**[?: 00]**

* * *

**[Author's Note]**

**Told ya guys it might come faster. ****First day in the château has has ended. Everyone's still alive.**

**Once again thanks to all the readers and special thanks to MudkipOfDespair for beta reading this chapter.**

* * *

**[Review Section]**

**McLogal**

_Perhaps Logal, perhaps._

**gamergirl101**

_upupupupupu..._

**pokemansuperallstar**

_well, there's the grand prize. USSSSSSR Escape Switch which will probably turn out as a prank by the bear king._

**Crit Fail**

_I'm glad you liked it! Don't worry, we have a psychologist in the château! He's a good boy!_


	5. 1: Song of Despair, All in your head II

**[Chapter 01 – A Song of Despair, All in Your Head, Part II]**

**Date: April 16, 2020**

**Location: Haruka's Room**

**Time: 7:00 AM**

"**Ahem! Good morning, kiddos, honeys, and cutie!" **Ōkuma's voice caused Haruka to stir from her sleep. She reluctantly opened her eyes and sat up. **"It is now 7 AM. Nighttime is over. Running water is now available!** **Rise up and have another fun day at the Château!"**

_Oh yeah, it wasn't a dream and we're stuck in a hellhole,_ Haruka sighed as she got up from bed and went straight for the shower. The warm water gently hits Haruka's skin as she washed herself.

_Did they get bigger? _Haruka's eyebrows furrowed. Her chest grew exponentially once she hit puberty but she barely got any taller. Most girls would be jealous but these breasts were a pain in the ass for Haruka. Her back and shoulders currently hurt, she can't afford to wake up late for school because running with those things hurts. Also it was hard to find a bra that fit. After she was done showering she proceeded to dry herself and get ready for the day.

"Alright, time to start this day!" Haruka pumped her fists and walked out of her room. Being greeted by the sight of flowers is the only good thing about this damned place.

"Well if it isn't you, honey," Haruka turned around to see Kasuka. He had a large black plastic bag and a thermos with him.

"Salutations!" Klara greeted from the phone.

"Good morning, Kasuka and Klara," Haruka tilts her head in wonder. "What's in the bag?"

"Oh this," He raised the bag a bit. "It's just something I need for the therapy session I'm going to conduct."

"Therapy?"

"For Petrove's fear of bear, honey," Kasuka pushed up his glasses. "We can't have her getting a panic attack whenever she sees Ōkuma."

"He's also worried that someone might take advantage of that but he doesn't want to admit it," Klara snickered. Kasuka groans.

"I see," Haruka nodded her head.

"I may need you in the future as well," the psychologist pushed up his glasses as the florist looks at him with a confused expression. "Do you have a bit of knowledge with aromatherapy?"

"Aromatherapy? Yes a bit."

"Good, that would be a great help," Kasuka looks at his phone. "It seems that I need to go."

"To her room?" Haruka raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Kasuka tilted his head. "Where else would I conduct the therapy?"

"Alone?"

"Klara's with me," Kasuka sighed. "We all just met yesterday. I won't try any funny business if that's what you're thinking."

"No, I will come with you," Haruka said. "Just as you said, we all just met yesterday so I do not know if you are lying or not. Regardless a boy and a girl alone in a room is prohibited."

"Kasuka and I technically share the same room, is that forbidden?" Klara asked innocently.

"No, that doesn't count," Haruka said.

"I'd tell you to stop acting like a prude grandma, but ah well," Kasuka sighed. "Come on, let's go."

"I'm not a grandma," Haruka pouted.

"You dress like one though," Kasuka chuckled making the florist puff her cheeks out even more.

"Let's just go," Haruka huffed and turned around. Her face was beet red and her cheeks looks like they're balloons. The psychologist and AI laughed at her together.

The pair plus Klara walked towards the room of the mountain climber.

Kasuka knocked on the door with some beat. Haruka looked at him with an amused expression to which he just let out a chuckle in response.

"Who's there?" Petrove's voice echoed from the other side of the door.

"It's me honey," Kasuka replied.

"Kasuka? Why are you here?" Kasuka was about to reply when the mountain climber interrupted him. "A real answer please."

Kasuka chuckled a bit. "Didn't I tell you that we're going to work on your trauma?"

"Oh, isn't it still too early for that?" Petrove opened the door slightly and peered her head out. She spots Haruka who waves at her. The mountain climber looked back at Kasuka. "Why is Haruka here?"

"She asked to be here," Kasuka explained. "Apparently grandma here doesn't like the idea of a guy and a girl in the same room alone, despite the fact that Klara is here."

"Hey! I'm not a grandma!" Haruka fiddled with her scarf.

"But don't you and Klara technically share the same room?" Petrove asked.

"Told her that, it didn't work," Kasuka shrugged his shoulders. "Enough chatter though, let's get your therapy started."

"Ah, okay let me just get dressed," the mountain climber closed the door for a moment. After a couple of minutes she opens the door again. The mountain climber was wearing a black oversized shirt with a snowman on it as well as her jeans. She gestured for them to come inside. "Come in."

The room was different from Haruka's. There was a picture of Mt. Everest hung up on the wall. There were also penguin plushies neatly arranged on her bed. There was a TV and a video player.

"Sorry if it's too plain," Petrove rubbed the back of her head.

"No, plain is good," Kasuka said. "I only have the two laptops from yesterday and a whiteboard."

"My room had nothing but the basic needs of a room," Haruka followed up.

Kasuka made his way towards the office chair near the desk. He pulls it towards the side of the bed and gestures for Petrove to lie on the bed. The tall girl lied down on the bed as Kasuka takes out a notebook. "Now tell me, Petrove, what caused this fear of bears?"

"I-I…" Petrove started but the words can't get out of her mouth. The awful memory started to play in her head and her breathing got erratic. Her face went pale and sweat started to break out. Haruka looked at her with a worried expression. She felt her hand be held by another. She looked at who held it and saw Kasuka giving her a warm and gentle smile.

"Relax," Kasuka said his voice as soft as mother talking to her crying child. "Just take some deep breaths. You don't have to tell me the whole story in one go."

The mountain climber followed the psychologist's advice and breathed in long deep breaths. Slowly, her breathing became normal again and her face got its color back.

"I-it all happened because of a certain incident," Petrove began. "It was an incident that involved dad. You see, dad is the reason that I became a mountain climber. Dad was a pretty laid back man. He was also very kind. He first took me on one of his mountain climbing when I was eight. I can never forget the beautiful scenery that I witnessed back then."

"I see," Kasuka nodded and jotted them down on his notepad. "Please continue."

"Won't this end up as a life story?" Klara whispers.

"Shut up or I'll put you in vibrate."

"I will be shutting up now."

"It was my first time mountain climbing. I was scared at first but as it went on, I find myself drawn to it," Petrove smiles as she recalls all of her fond memories. "The view from the mountains was also very spectacular. Imagine looking at the horizon as the sun shines on everything. It was beautiful. After that, I've been mountain climbing whenever there was time. Sometimes dad would come but there are times that I would go alone due to his job as a factory worker."

Kasuka nodded his head as he listened to the story. Haruka could see a hint of a smile on his face. His patient smile kind of reminded her of her senpai back then.

"When I was twelve, I became the youngest person known in the world to climb a series of rigorous mountains. That's also how I got my sponsors."

"Mhmm," Kasuka nodded his head for a third time.

"But there was a certain incident that happened," Petrove's voice broke a bit. Kasuka glanced towards her and saw that her expression had turned somber. "I got overconfident with my skills and went alone one night. There was a prediction of a blizzard. Dad told me to stay in the house but I didn't listen. I went to the mountains and I ended up lost due to the blizzard."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "I encountered a bear that night. It was a really large black bear and it looked pretty vicious as well as hungry."

"…" Kasuka had a serious look on his face while Haruka's eyes widened a bit.

"I froze on the spot and even if I could move, I wouldn't be able to outrun it or climb a tree fast enough. I just sat there staring at it in fear as it stalked over, ready to tear me apart."

"And then?" Kasuka asked. Haruka felt that his voice was a bit forced when he said that.

"D-dad came to my rescue. He fought the bear so that I can escape. I ran as he fought the bear and didn't look back," by now the young mountain climber had tears streaming down her face. "He died because of me. Because I was naïve and overconfident."

"After that, every time I see a bear, I'm reminded of that night. Of dad's death," Petrove finished as she wiped tears off her eyes. Haruka lent her a handkerchief which the mountain climber took.

"I understand," Kasuka nodded and removed his glasses. "So not only are you plagued by the fear of bears, you are also haunted by the guilt of letting your father die. This is maybe more difficult than I first thought."

"Try to be more sensitive at least, Kasuka," Haruka reprimanded the psychologist. She honestly felt sorry for Petrove. The young girl had suffered quite dearly at a young age.

"_Then again, I too—"_

"You don't have to feel guilty over your father's death, Petrove," Kasuka said as he wiped his glasses with a white cloth. "Your father saved you."

"But if I haven't—"

"Yes you were at fault there," Kasuka said bluntly. Petrove visibly deflates at his words.

"Hey, I told you to be a bit more sensitive!" Haruka chided.

"That's just how Kasuka rolls, Haruka," Klara said. "Let him be, his methods are effective you know."

"Still…"

"But you shouldn't feel that way," Kasuka told the mountain climber as she sat up once again. "Your father saved you and sacrificed himself so that you can live. He wouldn't want you to feel guilty because of his own choice to save the daughter he loved so much."

"Even so…"

Kasuka sighs and gives her a gentle chop on her head. The gesture startled Petrove and made he widen her eyes. "Listen here, honey. If your father was alive and he saw you blaming yourself for his death, what would he feel?"

"Eh? Ummm…" Petrove tries to answer but Kasuka interrupted her.

"He would feel sad. Why, you may ask? Because his beloved daughter is sad. Do you want your father to be sad?" Petrove shook her head vehemently at his question. "I thought so. I know it's hard to lose survivor's guilt but you just have to remember that it was your father's choice to save you."

Petrove looked down in thought, letting Kasuka's words sink in.

"Hmmm?" Klara seemed to have realized something. "It's good and all that we are trying to help Petrove overcome her survivor's guilt but what about her fear of bears?"

"Oh yeah, her fear of bears," Kasuka's eyes widened as he hits his palm with his hand. "Her survivor guilt felt more serious and I almost forgot about that. Give me just a second."

The two girls watched as Kasuka opened the black bag. Haruka had a look of anticipation while Petrove felt anxious about the contents. The mountain climber takes a deep breath as Kasuka was about to pull the contents of the bag. The Elite Mountain Climber of Versailles Academy was ready for anything.

Kasuka produced a large bear plushie from the black bag. He then shook the contents of the bag out and smaller bear plushies came down from the bag.

The Elite Mountain Climber of Versailles Academy was ready for anything except that.

"Let's start by facing your fears," Kasuka said casually as he placed one of the smaller plushies on her lap.

"…" Petrove just sat there with a frozen look on her face.

"The best cure for fear is to fight it," Kasuka said pumping his fist with a smile. "Running away from it would just make it stronger so were going to have you put these bear plushies as decorations for your room. That way you can live with the fear as well as face it."

"…" Petrove fell to back to the bed still with that frozen look on her face.

"Ah," Kasuka said. "She fainted."

"Of course she would, you dumbass," Haruka fixed a disappointed gaze at the psychologist. "This is your therapy?"

"Yes," Kasuka gave her a thumbs up. "This works one hundred percent. I've been using this method on all of my patients last year."

There was a knock on the door. Kasuka and Haruka looked at the door before looking at each other.

"I'll go get it," Haruka goes to the door and opens it, revealing Dave. "Oh hey Dave, what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," the bassists sighed. "Hanzai was really worried when you, Petrove, and Kasuka didn't come to the dining hall for breakfast. I volunteered to get you guys but no matter how many times I knocked on your or Kasuka's doors, nobody would answer. I was actually getting worried."

"Ahaha, sorry," the florist rubbed the back of her head and apologized.

"What are you doing in Petrove's room anyway?" Dave narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me you…"

"No!" Haruka frantically waved her arms. "It's not what you think!"

"She's here because she wanted to be here in case I needed assistance," Kasuka arrives. Haruka raised an eyebrow.

"Assistance?" Dave raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, why are you in Petrove's room as well."

"Because we had wild hot threesome sex all night."

"…what?" Haruka gave him a rather odd look.

"…what?" Klara said, copying Haruka.

"WHAT?" Dave was in real shock. "Is that true!?"

"Of course not, kiddo," Kasuka deadpanned. "I was just messing around to see your reaction."

Dave let out a rather irritated sigh. "You should really not do that you know. You might get on someone's bad side."

"Yeah, I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Kasuka said as he rolled his eyes.

"What Kasuka means to say is that he will not keep that in mind," Klara corrected.

"Ugh," Haruka sighed. Kasuka didn't look like or speak like it, but it seems that he has a mischievous or devious personality in him. "Can we just go to the dining hall and eat breakfast? Because now that I remembered it, I really hungry now."

"Okay," Kasuka said. "I'll just get Petrove to wake up and we should be good to go."

**Location: Dining Hall**

**Time: 7:45 AM**

"You three better have a good explanation on why you're all late," Hanzai said as he glared at the three latecomers. "Do you have any idea how worried we were?"

"Yeah, yeah I get it kiddo," Kasuka said. "I went to Petrove's room for her therapy. Haruka decided to come with me for Petrove's therapy in the case that I needed some assistance."

"Why would you need some assistance in therapy?"

"In the case that I might have to use aromatherapy, she would have the knowledge of the flowers that I might need kiddo," Kasuka explained to the crime scene investigator.

"Eh, but what if the two of them were accomplices and they actually wanted to—" Sayuki began but immediately shut up after recieving a really nasty glare from Hanzai.

"Let's not talk about that while we're having breakfast, okay?" The black clad boy said in a strict voice. He turns towards the three and sighs. "You three go get yourselves some breakfast."

"What's for breakfast?" Kasuka asked.

"You make your own," Hanzai said. "We can't just rely on John and Ella for cooking our food. Especially since they only make breads and desserts."

"What's wrong with that?" John said looking a bit offended.

"My chocolates are very delicious," Ella grumbled with her cheeks puffed.

"We can't just always eat bread and sweets," Hanzai pushed up his glasses as he explained. "It's important that we have proper nutrition. We need to stay healthy and—"

"Alright we get it, mom!" Sayuki said as she rolled her eyes. Hanzai seemed to be taken aback at being called mom. "Can you let them have their breakfast? You said that you have something to say after breakfast and that you want all of us to hear it."

Hanzai, still taken aback by being called mom, readjusted his glasses. "Well then, you three go to the kitchen and make your breakfast, you all know how to make breakfast right?"

The late trio went to the kitchen to make their breakfast. Petrove and Haruka just looked for the more breakfast oriented food they could find while Kasuka cooked an omurice for himself.

"Are you seriously going to cook an omurice for breakfast?" Haruka asked.

"Of course. I want an omurice for breakfast thus I will cook one for breakfast," Kasuka said as he added some spice to his omurice. "Go ahead, you two. I'll join you a moment."

The pair left the psychologist as he cooked his omurice. They decided to sit with Nao, who didn't seem to like their company but allowed them to sit with her anyway. She looked a bit more cranky than usual. Seems like she didn't get any sleep if those bags under her eyes were any indication.

While they ate their breakfast, most of the other occupants were doing other things. Hanzai was reading once again while he drank coffee. Sayuki and Nemesis were having a small chat, though it looked more like Sayuki was bombarding Nemesis with questions, with the actress' eyes gleaming as the mafia boss talked. Dave seems to be asking Kazuma and Kenta something. John was trying to talk to Ella who seems to be spacing out again, trying to get another prophetic chocolate vision. Yu, Tohka, Amamiya, and Genjiro were together again drinking tea. Genjiro seems to have adjusted to them a bit and was blending a bit more naturally now.

After a few moments, Kasuka comes out of the kitchen with his omurice. "Yo," he greeted as he sat down on the seat next to Nao.

"Perfect timing," Nao smiled at the psychologist. She raised the paper she was writing on and showed it to Kasuka. "Think you can solve this? I was working on it the whole night."

"_Stayed up all night to create a difficult puzzle? She's quite dedicated," _Haruka comments on her thoughts. _"That does make her a bit admirable, even if it's just a little."_

"Maybe," Kasuka replied. "I'll solve it now if you make a heart sign with your hands and say 'moe moe, kyun!', cutie."

"_What an absurd request," _Haruka thought. Those who heard it turned their heads a bit to the psychologist. Sayuki and Nemesis stifles a laugh after imagining Nao saying that.

"I refuse," Nao said flatly. Her smile now turned to a look of disgust.

"That's a shame," Kasuka closed his eyes and ate his breakfast. He didn't sound disappointed though.

"Alright," Hanzai stands up and closes his book. He regards everyone with the stern look before clearing his throat. "Since everyone's here, I would like to make a request for everyone."

The occupants looked at each other before nodding their heads.

"Thank you," Hanzai said as he adjusted his glasses. "As a way of making sure that no murder has been committed during the night, I want everyone to meet up here on the dining hall at 7:00 AM to 7:30 PM. I also want everyone to meet up here for dinner at around 6:45 PM to 7:15 PM to make sure that everyone's still alive by the end of the day."

"…" the occupants were silent. They looked at each other once again, this time a lot more uneasy. After a while, they once again nodded their heads.

"Another request I have—"

"There still more?" Sayuki said as she rested her chin on her palm.

"—I want to propose a rule," Hanzai continued ignoring the actress. "A Nighttime rule, during nighttime—"

"No," Kasuka interrupted him having finished his breakfast

"_Whoa, that was fast," _Haruka thought. He just finished his omurice in a flash.

Kasuka looked at the crime scene investigator as he wiped his mouth with a tissue. "I know what you're trying to propose, kiddo. You want us to hole up in our rooms during nighttime correct? Well, I don't agree to it."

"Why?" Hanzai said as he glared at the psychologist who stared at him back. "This rule would be perfect for preventing a murder."

"You say that but it's not really a guarantee," Kasuka said. "The breakfast and dinner is quite doable but locking us up during nighttime is not. Plus it's not like everybody's going to follow that rule. It's not a rule by the damn bear after all."

"…" Hanzai's eyes narrowed as he looked down.

"Well if that's all, I'll be going to the library to work," Kasuka stood up. "I'm still not done on cracking down those laptops."

As he walked out of the dining hall, he stopped a bit when he passed by the table where Nemesis and Sayuki sat. "Hey Sayuki, do you have any plans for today? I would be nice if you could help me with the laptops again."

"Hmmmm, maybe if I can fit it in my schedule," Sayuki said. "The Cosmic Queen did have some plans for today but if I can fit it in I'll drop by."

"Thank you," Kasuka nodded and went out of the dining hall.

Hanzai sighed. He adjusted his glasses once again and cleared his throat. "Well, that was all that I have to say for now. You can all leave if you have some things to do like Kasuka."

He sounded quite tired. Perhaps it was because he was trying to tie the group together as well as prevent any murder from happening. Haruka kind of felt sorry for the guy as everyone left the dining hall. Haruka decided to stay and walked over to Hanzai's table and sat with him.

"Hey," Haruka greeted.

"Hm?" Hanzai gave her a wondering look as he was about to read his book again. "Do you not have plans for today?"

"Eh, not really," Haruka said. "How about we have a chat instead?"

"There's not really much to talk about. Maybe planning a way to escape would be good though."

"Do you have any ideas on how?" Haruka told him.

"No," Hanzai shook his head and put down his book. "We are currently in an unknown part of the globe. Not only that, we have no idea when or if help will come. There's a high chance that they won't."

"So what do you plan to do?" Haruka asked the crime scene investigator.

"I plan to bore them," Hanzai said simply.

"What?" Haruka raised an eyebrow.

"If a murder doesn't occur for a long period of time, like say a month, there's a high chance that the mastermind might get bored and frustrated," Hanzai explained. "If they get really bored because of the lack of despair and murder happening they might just let us go."

"Or they might just kill us all," Haruka stated. While the plan was sound on paper, on practice it might not be the best one.

"Yes, they might kill us all instead," Hanzai nodded, acknowledging the flaw on his solution. "But that means they failed."

"And we're all dead."

"I gamble with the chance that they might let us go because of their boredom," Hanzai said. "This game was made to make us kill each other and feel despair. The killing is one of the main things that keeps the game going. If we all managed to prevent any murder, they would fail."

"Still that's a pretty big risk," Haruka said.

"So are the trials," Hanzai said. "But in trials, even if we succeed there will still be loss, and in a rather horrific way too."

The two sat in silence with the only sound to be heard was the occasional sound of pages being flipped. "Thank you for trying your best by the way."

"Hm?"

"You're trying your best to prevent any murders from happening," Haruka said. "So thank you."

"It's nothing much really," Hanzai said. "I just want the best for everyone, like how you want everyone to trust in each other."

"Oh."

"It's an admirable trait a bit naïve but still admirable."

"Gee thanks," Haruka said.

"You're welcome," Another tiny smile managed to find its way on the crime scene investigator's features.

* * *

**Location: Peach Tree Garden**

**Time: 8:15 AM**

"Hey Nemi!" Sayuki called out as the girl in question was about to pick one of the peaches. Nemesis wasn't one to get startled often but this case was different. It was the actress once again. Nemesis turned her head towards the actress. The actress was beaming at her.

Nemesis had no idea why she keeps coming back to her. Most of the people she talked to and even her classmates back at the Ultimate Academy were absolutely wary of her except for the Super Inmate Level Bomber. She was, after all, the boss of Moonlight Gaze Familia. The Queen of Retribution, the ruler of Venice from underground. She controlled that city and none dared to oppose her in fear that they might incur her wrath.

And yet here she is, Sayuki Narada, fearlessly approaching her like they were good friends that go way back. Honestly, Nemesis feels like there was something wrong with this girl.

"You again," Nemesis let out a wry chuckle. "Don't you ever get tired of spending your time with me?"

"Nope!" The actress giggled. "After all, you're the leader of a large mafia right? That's super interesting! The Cosmic Queen is very intrigued!"

"You're a hero in that show yet here you are being very interested in villains," the mafia boss smiled wryly. "You're one weird girl."

"Perhaps," Sayuki smiled. "But villains and people with diabolical minds really interest me. Also, I'm very much not a hero. I am diabolically evil after all. I have conquered entire galaxies!"

"_I have no idea what you're talking about," _Nemesis sweatdropped. The actress is pretty out of touch with reality sometimes.

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" the mafia boss leaned on to one of the trees in the peach garden while the actress sat on one of the seats.

"Tell me about the students there," Sayuki said as she stared expectantly at Nemesis. She kind of looked like a child waiting for a bed time story. "It's composed of a variety of criminals after all. I'm very curious on what they're like."

"That's gonna be tough," Nemesis said as she juggled the peach in one hand. "I was never really close to most of them and I only had a small group of people to call my allies there. And some of my allies are not that trustworthy."

"Why is that though? Wouldn't all of you bond with your crimes and other heinous deeds?"

"My classmates did. Not with me though, most of them were afraid of me after all. Even the craziest psychopaths and the most cunning sociopaths don't want to associate themselves with me."

"Wow, for real!?"

"Yes, really. Maybe they were intimidated. I did rule Venice and majority of Italy from the underground so perhaps they've heard of me before," Nemesis said. "I did have a classmate who wasn't intimidated though. She may be my best and only friend."

The Cosmic Queen waited in anticipation.

"Retsu, Super Inmate Level Bomber. She's quite the weird one and she looked very ridiculous. Her hair was a bit messy and she was always wearing a half plague doctor mask which covered her mouth. Retsu also wore black shades to cover her red eyes."

"_Come to think of it, I feel like I've recently seen another pair of eyes that looked like hers," _Nemesis thought.

"She was really weird but you shouldn't let that fool you. She was also very cunning and devious," Nemesis continued. "I remember one time she blew up one of the supply closets. She promptly got banned from entering the chemistry lab as well as other facilities."

Sayuki laughed. "She seems like a really interesting fellow."

"She sure is," Nemesis agreed. "I wonder how she's doing right now. She said that she was going to look for her twin brother after our escape."

"Escape?" Sayuki tilted her head. "Were you two in a Killing Game before?"

"No," Nemesis answered. "We escaped the Ultimate Academy. The moment the Tragedy spread was also the moment we decided to get the hell out of that place. I mean the Tragedy brought out the worst of most people, imagine it reaching people who are already the worst of the worst."

"What a horrifying yet fascinating thought."

"The fact that you consider that fascinating is also horrifying."

"Well then, how did you all escaped?"

"We blew up the entire Academy," Sayuki's eyes widened. Nemesis smirked. "We took down the teachers and other staffs first. They might be trained to keep us in check but that was mostly when we were getting out of hand with each other and that we weren't united back then. However since all of us wanted to break out of that prison, we had the same goals and all of us worked together. They went down and were captured very quickly."

The actress' eyes continued to sparkle, clearly enjoying her story. "Next up was getting the boats ready, we were located in an artificial island after all. If we blew the school up, we'd sink the island. It was pretty easy to get those boats ready though."

"Then we set up the bombs. Retsu took care of that. She made the bombs and placed it where it would be sure to sink the island. After the bombs were set, we got in the boat along with the teachers who were still captured, and got the hell out of there. We used the destruction of the Ultimate Academy as fireworks of celebrations."

Nemesis smiled. "Those were rather fun times."

"Now I wish I went there!" It was a good thing that Nemesis still hasn't bitten into the peach fruit in her hand or else she would've spit them out. "I seemed that you really had fun blowing that place up. I wish I had the chance to partake in it."

Nemesis was let out a wry chuckle. This girl was a handful but she did remind her of Retsu. Perhaps she can be a good friend like her.

* * *

**Location: Theatre**

**Time: 8:57 AM**

Music filled the theatre as Dave and Kazuma played some music. The theatre was the best place to do it. There was a wide space and it gave them the feeling that they were playing a song for the crowd.

"Haha," Kazuma let out a laugh as they finished the tune. "Man that was fun."

"Told ya," Dave grinned and offered him a high five which Kazuma accepts.

"Thanks Dave. I guess I kind of needed this to clear my head a bit."

"No problem dude," the bassist gave him a thumbs up. "You know what? How about we perform for the others? They might also need some songs to help them relax a bit."

"That's nice and all but there is one problem," Kazuma smiled wryly.

"Hm? What?"

"Neither of us can sing."

They did play some music but most of them were instrumental. They made beautiful tunes but no lyrics were heard as they played.

"Oh," Dave's eyes widened in realization. "I forgot about that."

The two musicians laughed, their laugh echoing within the Theatre.

"Say, Kazuma," Dave asked the electronic musician. "What was your reason for becoming an electronic musician?"

"That?" Kazuma put a finger on his chin. "Oh it was nothing much. I was just some guy who liked to listen to music. I was also a bit of a tech nut. One day, I just decided to make my own style of music in an old laptop because I wanted to. That music caught the attention of the public and became popular. I didn't know what to do at first but then I saw the look of smiles and enjoyment the people had when they listened to my music and I knew that this was the right path for me."

"Damn dude," the bassist whistled, impressed. "That's kinda admirable. I only did music to help me with my temper before."

"Temper?" Kazuma raised an eyebrow at the bassist.

"Ah, I was kind aggressive back when I was young. That kind of caused me to get labeled as a bully and everyone isolated me due to that. Got into a lot of anger management programs. Tried lots of things to use all of that energy on," Dave explained. "Tried things like painting and martial arts but only music managed to resonate with me. I felt a lot calmer and focused when I played. I felt like I was at peace when playing the bass."

"So after playing the bass a lot, I managed to get real good at it. Never got in a band though," the bassist gave Kazuma self-deprecating smile. "I had no one to form a band with after all. You're kind of the first one to actually play music with me. Thanks for that."

Kazuma returned him his thumbs up from earlier. "Sure. Call me whenever you need someone to play music with."

"Thanks again bro. It's kind of a shame that we don't have any singer though."

"I have a suggestion then," a new voice said, startling the two. They turned towards the source and saw that Kenta was there sitting on one of the seats.

"Oh hey, Kenta," Kazuma greeted. "How long have you been there?"

"I've been here for a while," The event planner said as stood up and walked towards the two. "Though never mind that. I heard that you two wanted to perform for the others, so I have a suggestion."

"What?"

"We'll have them sing instead," the event planner stated. "I believe it would be more fun that way as well as everyone would probably become closer because of that."

"Oh, I think I get it," Kazuma clapped his hands together. "You want all of us to bond with this right?"

"Correct," Kenta smiled. "If we can bond together, we can lower the chances of anyone trying to commit murder. I believe that your music is the best way to do it. So what do you guys say?"

"Of course," Kazuma's expression brightened. "If this can help everyone's hope shine brighter, then I'm all for it!"

"Me too," Dave nodded. "I kind of want everyone to get along. Especially since only a few of us do."

"Alright then," the planner started. "Let's start with planning this event first."

* * *

**Location: Dining Hall**

**Time: 9:20 AM**

"Thanks for the chat," Haruka said as she waved Hanzai goodbye. "It was kind of nice talking to you."

"Yes," Hanzai nodded another ghost of a smile gracing his face. "I did not expect to enjoy our time together."

"Well then, I'm off!" Haruka said. "I kind of want to see how Petrove is doing right now."

"Wait," Hanzai called out making the florist halt in her tracks. She turns towards him in wonder. "Petrove is currently undergoing some therapy with Kasuka, correct?"

"Yes, she is. Why do you ask?"

"Please keep your guard up when you're with him," the crime scene investigator said seriously.

"Eh?"

"I don't trust Kasuka."

"Why?" Haruka tilted her head. "I mean, he can be a bit of a gad fly saying stuff that riles people up but I think that he's not that much of a bad guy."

"I would think that too," Hanzai nodded in agreement. "If it weren't for his way of referring to people, I would very much trust him."

"Eh?"

"Have you noticed how he refers to us when speaking?"

Haruka thought deeply. How did Kasuka refer to them? Haruka shook her head.

"He refers to boys as 'kiddos' and girls as 'honey'," Hanzai explained. "He also refers to Naomi exclusively as 'cutie'."

"And what's wrong with that?" Haruka raised an eyebrow. That was a really weird reason to be suspicious of someone.

"Remember that Ōkuma also refers to us like that," Hanzai said. Haruka's eyes widened at the realization. "He could be in league with him or is the mastermind himself."

"Couldn't it be just a coincidence?"

"Yes, I hope that that is the case," the crime scene investigator nodded again. "But still, there's something about him that I can't quite put my finger on. It's best if you stay on guard when with him."

"Why not tell everyone?" Haruka said. "Wouldn't it be better if everyone knows about your suspicions?"

"In theory, yes it would be better. In practice however, it might cause a disturbance instead, especially since the only evidence is his way of referring to people and that's a rather shaky evidence to use on him. We might start distrusting each other more in the worst case scenario."

Hanzai looked at her directly in the eye. "So please, keep this to yourself for the time being and please be safe."

"I-I will," Haruka nodded. She bids him goodbye as she walked out of the Dining Hall.

Hanzai's warning was still on Haruka's mind as she walked down the hall. After hearing his warning, she couldn't take her mind of Kasuka. Weird sense of humor aside, he was a good guy. He was even helping Petrove get over her fears after all. If he was in league with whoever brought them here, he wouldn't do that right?

"_He's a good person right?"_

* * *

**[Château Killing Game: Day 02 in progress]**

**[Students Alive: 16]**

**[?: 00]**

* * *

**[Author's Note:]**

**Alright here's the new chapter guys. Kinda late, so I'm really sorry.**

**Anyway, a big thank you to all the readers and special thanks to StoryProducer214 for beta reading this chapter.**

* * *

**[Review Section:]**

**The Celestial Sky Dragon**

_Really glad that you enjoyed the chapter!_

**pokemansuperallstar**

_Don't be too hard on Hanzai, he's trying his best. He's a really good boy__._

**1Glimmershine**

_Thank you!_

**McLogal**

_Don't bully Kenta. He's another good boy._


	6. 1: Song of Despair, All in your head III

**[Chapter 01 — A song of Despair, All in your Head, Part III]**

**Date: April 16, 2020**

**Location: Kitchen**

**Time: 10:00 AM**

"What the heck am I looking at?" Kenta let out a rather dumbfounded voice as he looked at what Ella was making. It wasn't that it was disgusting or hard to look at, but rather the exact opposite.

What she was making was a work of art.

It was a small tower entirely made out of chocolate. Each detail was expertly done. He could see the windows, some lines that looked like cracks on the tower, and other small features.

"Oh," Ella turned towards him with a surprised look. "I didn't see you there. If you want to know what this is, it's basically what my chocolate vision showed me. It was what I needed to create."

_That's some wild vision, _Kenta thought, shaking his head with amazement.

"Well then may I ask why you are here?"

"Oh yeah," Kenta said. "I came here to tell you about a party that Kazuma, Dave, and I planned."

"A party?"

"Yeah. We hope to bring everyone closer and this feels like the best way to do it," Kenta explained. "It'll start around 9:00 PM and most likely end at 11:00 PM. It'll be held at the theater."

"I see. I think I'll come and maybe I'll even make some treats for it," Ella said, going into deep thought. "But for now why don't we first eat this chocolate?"

"Eh? But it looks so well sculpted, it would be a shame to ruin it."

Ella glared at him before walking up to him to the point that their faces were nearly touching. Kenta stepped back a bit but Ella once again closed the gap. "W-what is it, Ella?"

"You should never deny chocolate," She pouted. "A chocolate that is not eaten is worthless chocolate. And my chocolates are not worthless."

"Y-yeah, I get that and all but…"

"If you're thinking I won't be able to replicate this kind of feat then you are absolutely wrong."

Ella placed a hand on her chest. "I am the Supreme Chocolatier! This chocolate that was given to me by my prophetic chocolate vision has been engraved into my heart, mind, and soul. Recreating this is just as simple as breathing to me," she declared proudly.

"W-wow," Kenta sweatdropped. "But still, why did you make it like that?"

"I had a chocolate vision that told me to make this. It told me to make a chocolate that makes you feel like a kaiju when you're eating it."

"_That's some weird chocolate vision," _Kenta smiled wryly.

"Kind of like this," Ella said, going towards the chocolate tower. She raised her hands, forming makeshift claws and hunched over a bit. "Gao! I'm gonna eat you all!"

"Hngh…" Kenta held his chest a bit. Ella's actions were actually kind of cute, in a childish way that was rare among 18 year old girls.

"Now you try it," the chocolatier said as she gestured towards the tower. It seemed that she had eaten some of it, if the missing top was an indication.

"I don't think I can…" the event organizer rubbed the back of his head. He found the idea cute, but he was kind of hesitant on doing something so childish. It was kind of embarrassing.

"Trust me, it's fun," Ella grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the chocolate tower. "If you think it's embarrassing then I'll join you when eating it."

With a bit more tugging, he was eventually coerced into eating the tower like a kaiju. He had to admit, it was kind of fun. He did indeed feel like Godzilla. The chocolate was delicious as well, so it was very much worth it eating that masterpiece. After eating the chocolate tower like a monster from Godzilla, the pair sat together in the counter in the dining hall. It seemed that Hanzai had left a while ago, leaving the dining hall empty except for the two of them.

"So how was it?" The chocolatier asked. "How was being a kaiju?"

"It was fun," the organizer laughed. "Didn't expect that I would be eating a tower like a kaiju, but it was fun. The chocolate was delicious too."

"Of course," the chocolatier puffed her chest. "All chocolates from my visions are delicious! They are the chocolates that will change the world!"

While they talked, Kenta noticed that Priscilla was quite energetic and enthusiastic when talking about her chocolates. It was kind of a real contrast to her usual aloof and isolated self.

"Say, Ella," the event organizer said causing the girl in question to turn towards him. "Why did you become a chocolatier?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," Kenta rubbed the back of his head. "Why be a chocolatier? What inspired you to become one? You don't have to answer if you don't want to but I'm curious."

Priscilla pondered for a moment. She looked down in deep thought as if to decide whether or not she should tell him about her backstory. She sighed and started.

"Well, I became a chocolatier because of my mom," she said. "You see, mom had a massive sweet tooth. She loved candy and even made some with her own unique recipes. I was always with her when she made her candies and I was always the first one to taste them and let me tell you, they were delicious."

"Because of mom, I started to love them as well. I would always be eager to accompany mom whenever she made candies and would often help her when making them."

"I see," Kenta said, nodding his head. "You really love your mom huh."

Priscilla nodded and smiled. The chocolatier had a melancholic look on her face. Kenta realized with a start that he might've stepped on a landmine. The two of them sat together in the dining hall in a rather awkward silence.

"I-I…" Kenta was the first to break the silence. "I actually became an event organizer because—"

"Stop, you can tell me your story some other time," Ella raised her hand and stood up. "I'm also going to make another chocolate."

"But it won't be fair if you're the only one that talks about your past."

Ella sighed and placed two fingers on her temple. "Didn't you have something that you had to do?"

"Eh?" Kenta thought for a while. He was engrossed with Ella and her story.

…

…

…

"AH!" Kenta's eyes abruptly went wide. "I was supposed to inform everyone about the party!"

The chocolatier giggled as the event organizer fumbled to get up from his chair. "For someone who organizes things, you sure look disorganized right now."

"I-I gotta go!" Kenta said as he rushed towards the exit while waving goodbye to Ella. "I hope I can see you at the party."

With that, the chocolatier was once again alone. She stretched a bit before going to the kitchen again.

"Alright, I'm a bit fired up," Ella said pumping her fist. "I think I'll make an extra sweet chocolate."

* * *

**Location: Château South Area**

**Time: 10:35 AM**

"Sei!" Tohka yelled as she knocked away Genjiro's sword away from his hand. She then swung her sword towards his neck stopping only an inch away from hitting him. Genjiro reluctantly raised his hand in surrender. Tohka let out a deep breath and bowed slightly.

"Yo!" Yu tossed her a towel and a water bottle while Amamiya handed Genjiro his own towel and water bottle. "That was kind of a great match. Genjiro is certainly improving."

"I-I was merely holding back," Genjiro turned away with a blush on his face as he wiped sweat off his forehead.

"Oho?" Tohka smiled a bit. "Then how about another round?"

"I-it would be unwise to immediately engage in combat," the self-proclaimed ninja pulled his mask up.

"Whatever you say, o' greatest ninja," Tohka said slyly.

The four sat down on the floor and rested for a while. Tohka looked at the towers as she chugs down the contents of her bottle. "I'm quite curious on what's inside those towers."

"Probably something that would help us murder," Yu shrugged. "That's how it's always been with those Killing Games. Whenever an area is unlocked it's most certain that that area would be used for the next murder."

"You really talk about murder like it's something that's commonplace for you," Tohka commented.

"Of course it's commonplace for me," the assassin let out a sigh. "I'm an assassin after all."

[You're so lax and friendly that we sometimes forget] Kira wrote.

"Indeed," Genjiro said. "Not many could just talk about death like that, even if you're an assassin."

"That so?" Yu had a wry smile. "I've been through a lot of shit even back when I was still a kid, so I guess it just kind of feels natural to me."

"You've been an assassin since you were a child?" Tohka's eyes widened a bit.

"No," the parka wearing boy said. "I kind of got involved with some shit like smuggling drugs and stuff."

"Your parents' business?"

"Again no. I got involved with that because I got lost when I was five and I happened to talk to the wrong guy, got kidnapped, escaped, rescued, trained, and ended up where I am right now," Yu laughed. "Now that I think about it, kid me was a pretty stupid kid. I would probably be living a normal life right now if I didn't talk to that guy."

_Who knew a single bad choice could go on a spiral like that, _Tohka thought.

Amamiya stood up. [I'm going back to get some more drinks.]

"Yeah, okay thanks," Tohka waved the ninja goodbye as she went back to the inside of the château."

"Well then," Yu said as he looked towards Tohka and Genjiro. "What about you guys? It wouldn't be fair if I'm the only one who's going to talk about myself."

Tohka sighed and sat a bit back. "Well, I've been a natural genius when it comes to kenjutsu. I managed to master a lot of techniques and styles, like the Niten Ichi Ryu, Yakumaru Jigen Ryu, Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage Ryu, and Taisha Ryu. I even know some western sword style. Master believed that I was a Kensei but I think he was exaggerating."

"Well considering how most master swordsmen prefer only one style, mastering multiple styles actually gives your Master's beliefs some merit," Yu commented.

"Thanks," Tohka blushes a bit.

"By the way can you use Sasaki Kojiro's Tsubame Gaeshi?"

"No," Tohka said. "It was a slash so swift it can cut a bird mid-flight right? I like birds, especially swallows, so I don't think I want to try cutting them down."

"Well that was unexpected," Yu laughed while Tohka giggled. Genjiro let out a scoff. Yu turned towards the escape artist. "What about you?"

"Well then, if you want to know about my skills and prowess then you better prepare yourselves," Genjiro declared proudly.

"He's going to tell us his chuuni background isn't he?" Tohka whispered.

"Let him," Yu grinned. "His chuuni story might be amazing."

And thus the two sat down as they listened to Genjiro's chuuni backstory. During which the pair pointed out some inconsistencies in his tale, causing the self-proclaimed ninja to get embarrassed.

* * *

**Location: Courtyard**

**Time: 10: 55 AM**

Amamiya was walking back towards the south area when she felt a presence. She quickly spun around, ready for combat. She quickly realized that the presence was none other than the mafia boss, Nemesis. The mafia boss waved at her but the ninja didn't let her guard down.

"Come on," Nemesis smiled. "Don't be like that. We haven't seen each other for like what? 8 years I believe?"

[That meeting was not a friendly one] Amamiya wrote.

"Ah yes," the mafia boss reminisces. Her mouth curled upwards as she remembered some rather unpleasant memories. She raises her hand and touches the scar on her chin. "You gave me this scar during that meeting, remember?"

[…]

"Don't worry," Nemesis said. "I don't hold it against you. It wasn't your fault that the Black Night Syndicate fell. You were just a pawn doing the job that was asked of you during that night after all."

[Where are you going with this?]

"I just want to ask if you know where your employer is," the mafia boss eyes turned deadly. Amamiya actually swallowed a bit and considered hightailing out of there. "Your employer and I go way back. So I want to know if you know where they are."

[I don't know. They kept themselves in anonymity when they gave me the job.] Amamiya wrote. [But you seem to know who they are.]

"I told you," Nemesis shook her head. "Your employer and I go way back."

[?]

Nemesis laughed and walked away. "Don't worry. The relationship of that person and I doesn't concern you so you shouldn't try to pry in. It's private business after all."

Amamiya watched as the mafia boss disappeared into the west area. Amamiya looked down as she recalled the events 8 years ago. It wasn't really a happy memory, if she would like she'd try to forget about that night.

She hits her cheeks lightly to snap herself awake. She then proceeded to go back to her group.

* * *

**Location: Petrove's Room**

**Time: 11: 45 AM**

"One, two, three, four," Haruka watched as the mountain climber did exercises as she sat on the chair near Petrove's desk. The bears had been unsurprisingly cramped at the side of the room by Petrove. Haruka was quite surprised. She didn't think that she would be able to move them, especially the large one, due to her paralyzing fear of bears.

She had to wonder though, why was Petrove doing exercises? There was also the fact that she was focused on the bear plushies. Of course the mountain climber was very afraid but she kept on doing the exercise. Haruka concluded that Kasuka has something to do with this.

"One, two, three, fooooouuur, and done!" Petrove yelled in triumph as she finished her exercise. Haruka clapped her hands and handed her a towel. Kira proceeded to wipe off her sweat and sat down on her bed.

"Good work out there, but why were you doing some exercises?" Haruka asked.

"W-well um…" Petrove took out a notebook and handed it to Haruka. The florist flipped through the pages and saw that it was filled with phobia treatment methods, all handwritten by Kasuka himself. "I found that inside the bag that was filled with those monstrosities. Kasuka had gone through all the trouble to make that notebook just to treat my phobia."

"Oh," Haruka said as she flipped through the pages.

"He's a really nice guy, isn't he?" Petrove smiled.

Haruka was inclined to agree at first but she remembered her earlier conversation with Hanzai. Kasuka might be connected to the mastermind and that he might be faking his kindness. Yet however, a part of her trusted the psychologist. Sure, he liked to rile people up but he still watched over Petrove. Surely a guy who wanted despair would do everything he could to torment Petrove. Drive in her fear of bears and survival guilt.

_Ugh, what am I supposed to believe?_

"Haruka? What's wrong?" Petrove asked, worried.

"Oh! Uh, nothing," Haruka gave out a rather strained smile. "Nothing at all."

Petrove pouted. Haruka could tell that she was reading right through her so she decided to change the subject. "W-why don't I tell you about myself?"

"?" the mountain climber tilted her head, obviously confused by her suggestion.

"You shared some of your backstory a while ago so why don't I share some of mine?"

Before Petrove could answer though, Haruka had already started telling her about some of her life.

"You know, I was just a normal girl that really liked flowers. My family had a flower shop so I was surrounded by flowers as I grew up. I was six when I started studying flowers and I even got into flower arrangements."

"Oh…"

"I also had someone to teach me a lot of things about flowers, he was a botanist after all. He went to Hope's Peak Academy," the florist mused. "Ultimate Botanist, Santa Shikiba. Though he was quite an oddball often mentioning the existence of plant clones and stuff, he was kind and a very good teacher."

"How is he right now?"

"…He fell to despair and was killed."

"…I'm sorry."

"It can't be helped anymore and I should be the one saying sorry," the short girl rubbed the back of her head. "I kind of ruined our talk."

Having ran out of topics to discuss, the two sat in silence. The silence wasn't that comfortable, but it wasn't awkward either. Kind of just the right atmosphere. The silence was then interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Petrove asked.

"It's me, Kenta," the voice of the event organizer came from behind the door. Haruka stood up and opened the door. "Oh hey, Haruka. I didn't know you were here. That kind of makes my job easier."

"What is it, Kenta?"

"I just wanted to inform you that Kazuma, Dave, and I are planning a party tonight. It would be much appreciated if you could come. It would start around 9:00PM at the theater."

Haruka pondered for a bit. A party in this place might not be a good idea but it might bring them closer together. She turned towards the mountain climber who was also considering the invitation. "What do you think, Petrove?"

"Oh! Uh, I umm, I guess I could go."

"Alright then, I guess we'll be going," Haruka told the event organizer.

"Really? That's great!" Kenta pumped his fist. "Well then I'm off to tell the others!"

"Catch you later!" Kenta said as he waved them goodbye with Haruka waving back.

* * *

**Location: Library**

**Time: 12:00 PM**

"Ho?" Kasuka said as he stumbles upon an unexpected character in the library. "I didn't think I would see you here, kiddo."

John sighed as he placed the book back on the shelf. "Hey man, you really love this place huh?"

"There are tons of files here that interest me," Kasuka pushed up his glasses as he looked around the shelf. "From documentaries of serial killers to the talent schools, they have everything here. They even have some books here that could be called a Grimoires here. Of course I would be a regular at this place. I even bought some of the books here."

"You actually used your points here?"

"They're not real money so I'm spending them as much as I like," the psychologist said. "I even rolled that Kuma gacha. It was worth it since I got a pair of magnet gloves and some other prizes."

"Cool," the baker said,quite dryly.

"Well what are you doing here?" the Kasuka asked.

"I was just looking for some cookbooks and stuff," John smiled. "I kind of have a lot of free time here so I want to bake as much as I can."

"Ah, yes," Kasuka said. "You wanted to hone your talent a bit more I see."

"You've got that right," the mitten wearing boy smiled. "I really love baking and I want to be the best in it. I'm the Ace Baker after all. If I fall behind, then I'm not worthy of my talent."

"Oh yeah, you're from Skyline," Kasuka mused. "I heard that they expel the two lowest classes each year."

"Yep, I have to stay at the top if I want to keep my title."

"Hmmm, I see…" Kasuka nodded. "By the way John, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, man! Go ahead!"

"Why are you here at the murder case files section of the library? Didn't you say that you were looking for some cookbooks?" Kasuka said with a smile.

"Eh?" the baker's eyes widened.

"The cook book section is on the first floor," Kasuka's smile was eerie and his red eyes flashed as if they were glowing. John swallowed a bit as he looked into his eyes. He felt like he was being dissected alive as he was stared at by those red eyes. "So how did you wind up here if you were looking for cook books?"

"O-oh huh?" John laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. "A-haha? I don't come here often so I'm not that familiar with it so I guess I kind of got lost. I guess that's why I've been running into pictures of dead bodies instead of pastries. Haha, what a blunder."

"Is that so?" It was clear that Kasuka didn't believe what he just said.

"O-oh by the way," John said. "Have you heard about that party that Kenta and the musicians were talking about? I'll be helping them with the foods there."

"Yes I have," Kasuka said. "I may go if I have some time."

"And by the way," the baker said. "What happened to Klara? Isn't she always with you?"

"She's with the laptops breaking down the files in it," the red eyed boy said. "I was just going to look for another guide for cracking computers. The IT section is just up ahead, past this section."

"R-really?" John said. "Well I better go, wasted enough time here looking for stuff that wasn't here. Man I can be such a goof sometimes."

The baker walked past Kasuka as if he was in a hurry. Kasuka walked towards where John once stood and picked up the book that was in his hands a while ago. Kasuka smiles as he read the title.

_Mysterious Disappearances in Seattle._

"Interesting," the psychologist said as he put back the files and went to look for another coding guide book.

Back downstairs where the laptops and Klara was located, Naomi had arrived she had made a puzzle so hard that even she would have a hard time solving it. She spotted the laptop and sat on one of the chairs on the table.

"Salutations, Naomi," Klara greeted. "What brings you here?"

"I was looking for Kasuka," Naomi smirked. "I have created a puzzle so hard that he will get stumped by it!"

"Man, you sure do that a lot," Klara said. "Can it be that you actually like him and this is your way of showing affection?"

"What!? No!" Naomi blushed.

"Hmmmm, various people have different ways of showing affection," Klara mused. "Are you what they call a tsundere?"

"I am not!"

"It's not?"

"It's not," Naomi huffed. "You really have a limited knowledge. As expected of an inferior AI."

"Yep," Klara said, the insult completely flying over her head. "I have limited knowledge as an AI so I want to expand it and learn more."

"You want to learn more?"

"Yes!" Klara said. "I don't really understand a lot about humans. I want to learn what a human is. I know what a human is by scientific definition but what makes a human, human? Kasuka often asks himself a question: 'What is a man?'."

Naomi resisted the urge to say 'a miserable pile of secrets'.

"Oh my, is that cutie over there," Kasuka arrived with a textbook in hand. "What brings you here?"

"So you've arrived," Naomi smirked. She handed him a paper. "Here's a detective puzzle for you to solve."

Kasuka looks at the piece of paper and reads the puzzle. It was about a murder that had occurred in the mansion. The owner was killed by a knife to the chest. He was killed in his room with nothing but a scrap of cloth left at the crime scene. Three people were suspected and all had solid alibis. The chef was cooking; the butler attending the other guests; the maid was downstairs in the trash room burning the trash in the incinerator. Kasuka places his hand on his chin as he analyzes the puzzle. "As expected this puzzle is quite hard."

"I know," the enigmatologist puffs her chest proudly. "After all, I am a genius that comes only once in a blue moon. I am the greatest enigmatologist that has ever existed, Naomi 'Nao' Yamazaki!"

"You see that, Klara?" the red eyed boy gives his AI companion a side glance. "That's a direct example of an overinflated ego. Remember that well."

"Roger that!" Klara said.

"Hey!" Naomi protested.

"Well about this case…" Kasuka pushed up his glasses. "The killer is the maid."

"How did you arrive at that conclusion?" Naomi asked. "The maid was at the mansion's trash room. The trash room is located at the basement and to get there she would have to pass a lot of people. I doubt that the maid didn't get any blood on her."

"That's easy. She used the trash chute to escape. That scrap of cloth was from her head dress which she used to close the chute when she escaped. By tying the head dress to the chute as she goes down, the chute would be closed due to the pull."

"And since she's burning the trash, she could easily dispose of the bloodied maid uniform in the incinerator. The change of clothes she wore in the trash room was prepared there beforehand."

Kasuka smiled as she handed back the paper to Nao. "Am I wrong?"

Naomi sighed. "You're correct."

"As I expected," Kasuka smiled and went back on working on the laptop. Naomi looks at him working on cracking the laptop. "Interested?"

"Well, I wouldn't say I'm not."

"There are lots of files here, there are even visual novels. There are currently four of them here."

"Visual novels?"

"It seems that the Ultimate Despair thought that it was a good idea to turn the past Killing Games into a video game," Kasuka said. "I played them a bit last night and it seems that they added in some alternate endings and scenarios. What sick bastards."

"You seem very interested with the Ultimate Despair," Naomi said.

"I can't say I'm not," Kasuka pushed up his glasses. "They were the ones that brought ruin to this world. There was no way I'm not going to be interested."

"Instead of being scared, you became interested?" the chestnut haired girl raised an eyebrow indignantly.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Kasuka said.

"I wouldn't say there's something wrong with it but I wouldn't say that it's something that's right too."

Kasuka smiled. "They interest me because they show just how much of a potential mankind has."

"You're weird."

"Perhaps so," Kasuka nodded. "My priority right now is to get some information and escape here. I want to look for my sister after all."

"You have a sister?" Nao's eyes widened.

"A twin sister actually," Kasuka said as he pulled a picture from his hoodie. He hands it to Nao and the enigmatologist saw Kasuka and someone who was most likely his sister. They looked so much alike, especially their eyes. They only way to tell them apart was that Kasuka had a much smoother hair while his sister had a somewhat messy. "Her name's Kaguya. We were really close."

"You guys are identical?" That was weird, identical twins were always of the same gender yet she was sure that Kasuka was male.

"Fraternal twins actually," the psychologist said as he continued with what he was doing. "Mom's genes were just that strong. We barely look like our dad."

"I see."

"We got separated back when we were kids though," Kasuka laments. "Our family wasn't the most stable one so we eventually split apart. Mom took Kaguya, while dad took me."

"I'm sorry," Naomi looked down a bit.

"Don't be," Kasuka smiled. "My top priority during the reconstruction of the world was to find her. I just ended up in Russia due to some circumstances. Though it was worth it, I found Klara there after all."

"Awww," Klara cooed. "I knew that you cared."

Kasuka just let out a small chuckle and continued back on cracking the laptop. "By the way, cutie, what do you think of that party that Kenta and the others are planning?"

"I think it would be a waste of time but I'm going anyway."

"I see," Kasuka said. "I think I'll go as well. I'm pretty sure that Ōkuma will try to ruin the fun so I might as well be there when that happens. He's probably gonna order everyone to go there after all."

_That does sound like him,_ Naomi thought.

"Well I'll be here until then," Kasuka said as he looked towards Nao. "What about you?"

"Me?" Nao thought about it. She didn't have anything planned nor did anything interest her at the moment. She looked around the library and stood up. "I think I'll look around here for some mystery novels and puzzle books to entertain myself. Maybe I'll even cook up a puzzle that would finally stump you."

Kasuka smiled. "I'm looking forward to that."

* * *

**Location: Theater**

**Time: 8:45 PM**

"Man, I'm really kind of nervous," Dave said as he rubbed his arm.

"Yeah, I'm kind of nervous myself," Kazuma agreed and gave the bassist a wry smile. "Although I am also kind of looking forward to it."

"Really?"

"Yes," Kazuma nodded. "This party will be able to unite us all against this despair and with us united; our hope will shine brighter than ever before. A light so bright no despair could ever reach it."

The electronic musician turned towards the dark skinned boy with a smile on his face. "Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"I guess?" the British student rubbed the back of his head. Kazuma really loved talking about hope beating despair and hope in general. It was a bit weird but Dave agreed with him nonetheless. After all who wouldn't want a world filled with hope? Not the Ultimate Despair maybe but who cares about those guys?

Kazuma looked around the Theater from the stage. There was a table lined up in front of the stage filled with breads, chocolates and some drinks for the other occupants. Kazuma was really grateful towards Ella and John for these treats. "Kinda simple but as the saying goes, simple is best."

"Plus the main attraction is the music," Dave followed up.

"Indeed," Kazuma nodded.

The door to the theater open and Nemesis came in. The mafia boss waved towards the musicians. Kazuma waved back normally while Dave was a bit more nervous with his greeting. Nemesis sat on one of the front seats near the stage and crossed her legs. She exerted an aura of authority as she sat which is to be expected from the boss of the Moonlight Gaze Familia.

"I'm quite looking forward to this," Nemesis said. "This is kind of a big slap to the mastermind's face after all."

"You got it, boss," Kazuma gave her a thumbs up.

"Hey, Nemi! You're actually here?" The short girl visibly flinches as she heard someone call her. It was Sayuki once again. The actress sat beside the mafia boss. "I actually came here because you're here!"

"Gee, how flattering."

After a while more and more of the occupants began entering the theater. Even Yu's group came, which was a rather pleasant surprise. Kenta came in followed by Haruka and Petrove. After a while, Naomi along with the rest of the students arrived.

"Salutations!" Klara greeted Haruka and Petrove while Kasuka just raised a hand.

"Hello, Petrove," Kasuka said. "How's overcoming your fear coming along? Well, I hope?"

"I, ummm," Petrove started. "I'm still quite afraid of them but not as much as before."

"That's great. You're actually recovering faster than I thought," Kasuka said. "Most would take around days or weeks to lessen their fear. I guess there's a lot more courage to you than I first thought."

"Ehehe," the tall girl giggled awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her head. "I think you're giving me too much credit."

"Yo, everyone!" Dave greeted from the stage. "Thanks for coming here! We really appreciate it!"

"No problem," John said. "I kind of needed a change of pace."

"Well," Kazuma said. "Let's start! Any songs that you guys want to hear? Well you guys are going to have to sing it though."

"We're the one who's going to sing?" Kasuka said before grinning. "Sounds interesting. I'll go first."

The psychologist proceeded to go up the stage where Dave hands him a mic. He goes out to tell them the song that he was going to sing. Haruka couldn't hear it but the duo seems pretty surprised. Kasuka got to the center of the stage and the musicians started to play.

_Wait a minute, _Haruka recognized this song_. Is he going to sing what I think he's going to sing?_

_Se~ no_

_Demo sonnan ja dame_

_Mou sonnan ja hora_

_Kokoro was shinka suru yo_

_Motto motto!_

_Oh my god, he really is singing it, _Haruka's face was priceless. Her face was mirrored by most of the occupants. Sayuki was barely keeping it together as Kasuka sang that meme song. It totally didn't suit him!

_Kotoba ni sureba kiechau kankei nara_

_Kotoba wo keseba ii ya tte_

_Omotteta? __Osoreteta?_

_Dakedo are? Nanka chigau kamo_

_Senri no michi mo ippo kara!_

_Ishi no you ni katai sonna ishi de_

_Chiri mo tsumoreba Yamato Nadeshiko?_

'_Shi' nuki de iya shinu ki de!'_

_Fuwafuwari fuwafuwaru_

_Anata ga namae wo yobu_

_Sore dake de chuu e ukabu_

_Fuwafuwaru fuwafuwari_

_Anata ga waratte iru_

_Sore dake de egao ni naru_

_Kami-sama arigatou_

_Unmei no itazura demo_

_Meguriaeta koto ga_

_Shiawase na no!_

_Demo sonnan ja dame_

_Mou sonnan ja hora_

_Kokoro wa shinka suru yo_

_Motto motto_

_Sou sonnan ja ya da_

_Nee sonnan ja mada_

_Watashi no koto mitete ne_

_zutto zutto._"

_Well, at least he's doing the short version, _Haruka thought. _I'm not sure I could sit through the full song. _Sayuki was literally laughing her guts out. Nemesis had a hand on her mouth, trying her best not to laugh. The rest, including Haruka, got the embarrassment that Kasuka was supposed to feel. Kasuka got off the stage in high spirits and approached Petrove and Haruka. "Alright, your turn Petrove."

"EH!?" Petrove yelped. Kasuka went behind her and grabbed her shoulders and began gently pushing her towards the stage. "I-I don't really…"

"Come on," Kasuka encouraged with a smile. "You'll do great. This is also to help you with your shyness."

"B-But."

"Don't worry, Petrove. You can do this."

With that, Petrove was on stage. The tall girl looked quite nervous being in front of a lot of people. Kasuka gives her a smile and thumbs up. Petrove inhaled deeply and told the musicians to play the song. Music once again fills the area. Petrove takes another deep breath and began to sing.

"_The snow glows white on the mountain tonight_

_Not a footprint to be seen_

_A kingdom of isolation_

_And it looks like I'm the queen_

_The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside_

_Couldn't keep it in, Heaven knows I've tried_

_Don't let them in, don't let them see_

_Be the good girl you always have to be_

_Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know_

_Well, now they know!_

_Let it go, let it go_

_Can't hold it back anymore_

_Let it go, let it go_

_Turn away and slam the door!_

_I don't care what they're going to say_

_Let the storm rage on_

_The cold never bothered me anyway_

_It's funny how some distance_

_Makes everything seem small_

_And the fears that once controlled me_

_Can't get to me at all!_

_It's time to see what I can do_

_To test the limits and break through_

_No right, no wrong, no rules for me_

_I'm free!_

_Let it go, let it go_

_I'm one with the wind and sky_

_Let it go, let it go_

_You'll never see me cry_

_Here I stand, and here I'll stay_

_Let the storm rage on!_

_My power flurries through the air into the ground_

_My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around_

_And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast_

_I'm never going back, the past is in the past!_

_Let it go, let it go_

_And I'll rise like the break of dawn_

_Let it go, let it go_

_That perfect girl is gone_

_Here I stand in the light of day_

_Let the storm rage on!_

_The cold never bothered me anyway__"_

_Well that was more refreshing than the first one, _Haruka smiled. Petrove had gotten off of the stage, her face all red from embarrassment.

"I can't believe that I actually did that," Petrove had pulled her hood down to cover her face. "That was so embarrassing!"

"No need to be embarrassed," Kasuka complimented the embarrassed mountain climber. "You did a great job, Petrove!"

After Petrove's performance, the others also started to get into the mood, as Sayuki decided to sing as well. Time went fast as the occupants continued with the event. Most of those who sang were, while the others could do some work.

"Hmph," Genjiro said as he joined the only other person in the corner, Amamiya. "What nonsense isn't it?"

[Really?] Amamiya raised an eyebrow. [I don't think so. To be honest, I think it's a fun activity.]

"And yet you're here not participating," Genjiro said. "Your words contradict your actions."

[It's not like I don't want to join] Amamiya puffed her cheeks. [I can't sing after all.]

Oh right. She was blind. Genjiro shifted awkwardly. [Kind of an oversight on their part.]

"W-well it seems like we're the only ones who's not gonna join in this nonsense then."

[Actually no] the self-proclaimed ninja was puzzled by her words. Amamiya walked towards the stage. [I can at least play a guitar. It was what I did when I had free time]. After that, Amamiya had joined and the duo had now become a trio.

Haruka was with Hanzai at the corner of the room as she watched the others sing. Currently it was Ella singing Candy Man.

"With most of the bonds that we're forming here, I think it's safe to say that the chances of murder is decreasing rapidly," Hanzai said as he observed the others.

"Yeah," Haruka agreed. "I think your plan may come to fruition."

"I do hope so," the blue haired boy adjusted his glasses. "Though it is quite ironic that our prime suspect was the one who kick started this."

"Yeah," the short stack agreed. Kasuka had kick started by singing Renai Circulation and making Petrove sing as well. It was just a domino effect after that.

"What do you guys think?" Kenta asked them as he joined her in the corner. "Kind of fun right? Though there was a bit of an oversight with Amamiya being mute and all. But at least she can play a guitar."

"Yeah," She was enjoying it at least. She didn't want to sing but she was still having fun. "As Hanzai said, we're kind of getting closer to one another. I'm pretty sure that no murder would ever occur now. Ōkuma has lost."

"**Are you sure about that, honey?"**

_Me and my big mouth._

The bear had arrived and the mood was instantly massacred. Not killed but massacred as it was practically irreparable now. The music stopped. Expressions went from happy to cringe. Petrove immediately ducked behind the closest person she could find, which happened to be the second shortest girl in the group, Nemesis. Haruka was kind of impressed on how the bear did all that by just appearing but then again it was a bear that had trapped them and was trying to get them to kill each other.

"What do you want?" Hanzai glared at the bear.

"**Your kind and benevolent king is kind of upset that he wasn't invited," **the royal bear hung his head low. **"So I decided to crash the party of my rather rude subject. And judging from how you guys reacted, I say I did a pretty good job!"**

"I see," Kazuma closed his eyes. "Could you get out now? You've already ruined the mood with your presence."

"**That's kinda harsh, kiddo," **Ōkuma raised his head once more and began walking back and forth. **"The crashing of the party is one reason that I'm here but it isn't the only reason why I'm here."**

"…so," Yu narrowed his eyes. "Why are you here then?"

"**Try to guess it," **The bear's red eyes started to glow menacingly. The occupants swallowed not wanting to answer the question as they pretty much figured it out. **"Anyone? Well if you guessed that it's time for the first motive…"**

"**You are correct," **the mood and temperature drops like a giant rock to the bottom of the ocean. **"I call this one, the Disappearance of Talented Students."**

"…" the occupants stayed silent and let Ōkuma continue.

"**As the motive name suggest, if no murder occurs after tomorrow you will all disappear though not in the literal sense. All of your records from the world, all of your achievements will be erased. Even all of your family will not remember that you existed."**

"T-that's bullshit!" Dave yelled at the top his lungs, clearly nervous and angered at the motive. "You can't just make someone not exist!"

"**Do you really think I can't, kiddo?" **The bear said coldly. **"You underestimate me. I can and I will make all of you cease to exist if no murder occurs after tomorrow. Now then, if you would excuse your king."**

The bear did what he did best. Disappear and leave a rather uncomfortable atmosphere.

***Ding dong**Ding dong***

"**Ahem," **the bear had started his nighttime announcement. **"Attention kiddos! It is now 10 PM meaning it is now officially nighttime! Running water will now stop. You're all still free to party if you like but...upupupu, I don't think that's possible anymore."**

The occupants were still silent after the announcement. None dared to say anything, no one even wanted to continue with the even anymore.

"Well," Kasuka started as he rubbed the back of his neck. "The mood's dead and I don't think anybody has the energy to revive it so why don't we go to bed and discuss this tomorrow."

"That…" Hanzai sighed. "That does seems to be the most logical option right now."

The occupants nodded and started heading towards their rooms. Petrove was looking particularly saddened by the turn of events. Eventually, only Hanzai and Haruka we're left in the theater.

"What do you think of the motive, Hanzai?" Haruka asked the detective.

"It seems pretty out of this world," Hanzai answered. "I kind of have a hard time believing that they can do that."

"Then-!"

"Sadly," Hanzai sighed and closed his eyes. "This is the Ultimate Despair we're talking about. It's entirely possible that they could make everything about us disappear."

"What about our family and friends? They'll certainly know that we exist right?"

"…The Ultimate Despair had once wiped out 2 years-worth of memories. They might do the same to our family."

The florist hung her head, depressed. She doesn't want to disappear but she also doesn't want anyone to die either. She felt a hand rub her head and looked up to see Hanzai giving her a gentle smile. Though she had seen some slight smiles from him, this was the first time was smiling for real. "Don't worry. I won't let anyone be murdered."

"But the motive…"

"Even if we do disappear from the world, we can always make them remember," Hanzai said. "That's why I won't let any murder happen because of this motive."

Haruka felt his conviction in his words. Haruka smiled. "Thank you. You being here with us is really reassuring."

"Thank you. Now why don't we go to sleep, we got a big day tomorrow."

"Un," the florist nodded her head. With him here, there is nothing to worry about. Not even Ōkuma, not even despair.

* * *

**[Château Killing Game: Day 02 End]**

**[Students Alive: 16]**

**[?: 01]**

* * *

**[Author's Note:]**

**Alright! First motive has been set!**

**A big thank you to the readers and special thanks to MudkipOfDespair and StoryProducer214 for beta reading this chapter!**

* * *

**[Review Section:]**

**pokemansuperallstar**

_We'll find out who dies first soon enough but maybe Mama Hanzai can stop it._

**The Celestial Sky Dragon**

_Well, there's the Chocolate Vision. Kaiju Ella!_

**Guest**

_Thanks! I had fun writing that therapy session_

_**McLogal**_

_Hope you still like this chapter even though Nemesis doesn't appear much in it_


	7. 1: Song of Despair, All in your head IV

**[Chapter 01 – A Song of Despair, All in your head, Part IV]**

**Date: ? ?, 2019**

**Location: Somewhere in Russia**

"Huff, huff," a single boy breathed heavily as he walked through the icy tundra of Russia. He hugged his coat tightly and he cursed himself for not bringing a thicker coat and as well as a pair of goggles while venturing through the blizzard. He couldn't see a damn thing. Moreover, his whole body was beginning to feel numb as the storm rage on.

Kasuka felt his movements begin to slow down. He was going to suffer hypothermia if this kept up. He needed a shelter and he needed it quick. As if God was on his side he found a rather abandoned looking house. Kasuka began running towards the house. He immediately kicked the door down after finding that the knob won't budge. It would've been bad if the door was destroyed, but luckily he knew the right way of kicking down a door.

Entering the house, Kasuka immediately closed the door and used the nearest chair as a door stopper. Kasuka sighed in relief as he sat down on the floor, his body beginning to warm back up.

"That was close," Kasuka sighed, as he rubbed his hands together while inwardly celebrating the fact that he managed to avoid a certain death. "But where am I?"

The house looked like it had been abandoned for a long time. Kasuka was surprised though, that an abandoned house like this managed to stay up despite the Tragedy. Kasuka concluded that it was because the Despairs couldn't be bothered to spread despair to an empty house.

Kasuka decided to explore the house, carefully walking so that he wouldn't break any floorboards. Everything inside the house was covered in dust and most of the things there were quite brittle that one touch might send them shattering into pieces.

Of course Kasuka decided to shatter some of them.

Up the stairs, he found a closed door. When he tried to open it, he found that it was locked. Once again, Kasuka kicked the door down to get inside the room. Dust flew everywhere causing the red eyed boy to cough a bit and cover his mouth. After the dust cleared up a bit Kasuka looked around the room, there was it was dusty like the rest of the house but one particular thing caught his attention.

It was something that was the shape of a human girl sitting on one of the chairs inside the room. Kasuka walked up to the girl shaped object and got a closer look. It seemed that it was something like a robot. And it definitely had seen some better days.

"A robot huh," Kasuka mumbled as he proceeded to check the robot. The robot seemed like it had been deactivated for a long period of time as Kasuka noticed that some of her joints wouldn't move due to the rust. "I wonder how you look like on the inside."

Kasuka went out again and looked for some tools in the house. Luckily, he was able to find a toolbox. The tools were rusted but they could still be used. Kasuka went back up the stairs and started dissembling the robot. The majority of her circuits were damaged but it seemed that the important parts are still in good shape. Kasuka took all of the important pieces and stored them inside a ziplock bag he had found.

After wiping off some sweat on his forehead, Kasuka looked outside the window. The blizzard was still going strong. Kasuka let out a rather deep sigh. It seemed like he'd be stuck at the abandoned house for a while.

* * *

**Date: April 17, 2020**

**Location: Kasuka's room**

**Time: 7:00 AM**

"**Ahem! Good morning, kiddos, honeys, and cuties!" **The morning announcement caused Kasuka to stir up from his sleep.** "It is now 7 AM. Nighttime is over. Running water is now available!** **Rise up and have another fun day at the Château!"**

"Good morning, Kasuka!" Klara greeted Kasuka as slowly got up from his bed and sat on the edge of it for a bit. "That was quite a surprise yesterday, huh?"

"You bet it was. I was having fun too," The psychologist replied as he rubbed his eyes a bit before getting up and going to the shower. He sighed as the warm water dropped on his skin. After the Psychologist finished showering, he prepared for breakfast, grabbed his phone, and got out of his room. Naomi was waiting for him and looked like she was about to knock. "Hey cutie, why are you here?"

"I came to fetch you so that you wouldn't be late to the meeting again," Naomi sighed as she shook her head. "And I told you not to call me that. Why do you always call me that?"

"Because I like you."

The enigmatologist's face turned as red as a tomato as she backed away a bit, taken aback for the rather sudden and blunt confession. "W-what!?"

"Just kidding," Kasuka placed a hand on his mouth as he chuckled. The enigmatologist's face reddened again this time however, it was because she was angry. Naomi decked him the cheek and walked away with a huff. The red eyed boy chuckled as he rubbed his cheek. "How cute."

"You just got decked in the face and you call her cute?" Klara wondered as she tried to process that. "I still have much to learn about humans."

"Haha," Kasuka laughed lightheartedly. "Come on, let's go to the dining hall."

As they arrived to the dining hall, they noted that the majority of the students were still not there. Naomi was there who glared at Kasuka as he entered the room. Kasuka gave her smile and a wave which Naomi replied with a huff and turned away. Kasuka noted that Hanzai was also there reading another book with a cup of coffee on his table. The crime scene investigator regarded him with narrowed eyes before turning back to his book.

Kasuka saw that the last person in the dining hall was Kazuma. The electronic musician was tapping his fingers on the table as he waited for the others. Kasuka decided to go to the kitchen and make some breakfast for himself. He wasn't obligated to cook for the others after all. He decided with a katsudon and began cooking. Soon after he was finished he sat on one of the empty tables in the dining hall. Nemesis had arrived while he was in the kitchen and was once again with Sayuki. Kasuka noted that those two were almost always together.

_Yuri perhaps? _Kasuka mused at the thought of Sayuki and Nemesis while he ate his katsudon. _Hot._

After a few more minutes, the rest had arrived. All of them look tired and most even had bags under their eyes. Priscilla didn't even say anything about some chocolate vision. All of them just went to the kitchen to get their breakfast. After a few minutes they got out of the kitchen with food in hand. Since Kasuka had finished his breakfast before they had arrived, he just watched them eat until they were done.

A few minutes passed and everyone was done with their breakfast. Hanzai waited for a few more minutes before finally clearing his throat. "Alright, now that we are all here, let us discuss this matter on hand."

As always, the temperature and atmosphere dropped when he said that. Every occupant of the Château eyed the others suspiciously, like someone was someone was stupid enough to pull a knife out of nowhere and start stabbing everyone. After all, the kill limit rule didn't exist here.

_But then again, if someone pulled a knife in a room that was occupied by the Spectacular Assassin, the Gifted Kenjutsu Practitioner, and the Paramount Ninja, _Kasuka mused as he rested his head on his palm._ They must be pretty stupid._

"The motive presented to us," Hanzai's glasses gleamed as he pushed them up. "If a murder doesn't occur, we will all be erased from the face of this world."

Hanzai took a sip from his coffee before continuing. "Now that might be a pretty grim consequence, but we cannot allow a murder to happen."

"So what you're trying to say is," Yu said as he twirled a pair of scissors on his finger. He looked like he could honestly kill with that. "We should give up our existence."

"That's ridiculous!" Dave slammed his hand on the table angrily. "Everything about us is going to disappear tomorrow!"

"Our family, friends, records, achievements…" Petrove said as she looked down, her hood covering her eyes.

"…" Nemesis pulled down her fedora, hiding her eyes as well. She doesn't say anything but it seemed that the motive does affect her too. Sayuki's usually perpetual smile had also turned into a frown.

The silence was unbearable. The heavy atmosphere felt like it could choke them and maybe it was already choking them. Kasuka closed his eyes and sighed.

"This is quite a unique motive though," Kasuka opened his eyes and placed his index finger and thumb on his chin. The others looked at him in curiosity as he spoke. "This motive is quite a bad thing but—"

"Of course it is!" Dave yelled. "Everyone we love, everything we've worked so hard to achieve, all of them will be gone in an instant!"

"Yes you're correct there, kiddo," Kasuka glared at the dark skinned boy in displeasure. "You did quite a good job pointing that out. What we would we ever do without you, Captain Obvious?"

"What did you say!?" Dave angrily yelled for a third time. The bassist actually got up from his seat, ready to walk down and punch the psychologist.

"Dave, calm down," Kazuma raised his hands to try and pacify the enraged bassist. "Let's hear what he has to say."

"But it's quite beneficial in some way," Kasuka said as he took of his glasses to wipe its lenses. Haruka noted that he was pretty handsome without his glasses.

"Beneficial?" Sayuki raised her eyebrows a bit in confusion. "In what way is this beneficial?"

"What Kasuka wants to say is that it's entirely possible for you to restart your life with this motive," Klara commented from Kasuka's phone.

"Yes, that is correct," Kasuka said as he put on his glasses. "With this motive everything about you will disappear."

"How would that be a benefit?" Ella titled her head in confusion. She then widened her eyes a bit. "You don't mean…"

"If you're thinking that your darkest most horrible secret will also be erased," Kasuka smiled as he pushed up his glasses. Haruka and Petrove were quite unnerved by it. They were used to his kind and gentle smiles but this one had a sinister vibe in it. "Yes, that is exactly what I mean."

"If you look at this motive at face value, it's a horrible thing," the red-eyed boy said. "Everything about you is erased and forgotten."

"But if you look at it deeper," Klara continued for him. "It would also erase your rather darkest secrets, your skeletons in the closet. Kind of like a system reboot."

"Heck with this motive, you can essentially live another life different for your previous one," Kasuka said as he twirled his hair a bit. "Especially if you made some really horrible mistakes and whatnot in your life."

"Like Yu!" Klara said cheerfully as the assassin turned towards them. "I'm pretty sure that you're tired of seeing dead bodies all over the place considering your job as an assassin. This motive could benefit you as the world will forget that you're an assassin."

Yu remained silent but seemed like he was in contemplation. Not just Yu, most of the occupants had taken in Kasuka's explanation and was seriously considering it.

"You have a point, Kasuka," Hanzai nodded his head, understanding the logic behind the Kasuka's explanation. "The motive could be turned into an advantage for us."

The sound of a fist slamming against a table was heard throughout the entire hall. Nemesis' eyes were covered by her hat. "It's not that easy you know."

"Eeh…" Kasuka lips twitched a bit. This is going to be interesting. "Why not?'

"For starters," Nemesis said in a low voice as she raised her head. Her black eyes looked like a moonless night. "It's not that easy to start your life again."

"She's right," Naomi sighed as she closed her eyes. "Most of us got to where we are right now through hard work and pain. A reset to zero after all the blood and sweat poured, it would be almost unbearable."

"Which is why I say that this motive is unique," Kasuka took of his glasses once gain and balanced it on his index finger. "Do we sacrifice our old life to start a new one or do we sacrifice another one's life to maintain our life now? Quite the dilemma isn't it?"

The rest were silent after that. Kasuka smiled as he stood up. "Well then, since there's nothing else to discuss, I'll be on my way."

"See you later!" Klara cheerfully said from within the psychologist's phone.

The red-eyed boy and his AI girl got out of the dining hall leaving the rest of the occupants and of course the weight of their words settled down.

"_Your old life for a new one or another's life to preserve your current life."_

The question lingered on everyone's mind. Majority opted to leave the dining hall and all that was left was once again Hanzai and Haruka. Haruka didn't actually have anything to do so she once again sat with the crime scene investigator.

"Hey," the short girl greeted as she sat in the chair opposite him.

"Hello," the blue haired boy replied without looking, still engrossed in his book.

"So, uh…" Haruka struggled to find a topic to talk about. "I…uh, how are you right now?"

"I'm doing fine…" Hanzai said as he put down the book on the table. "…is what I would like to say but in truth I am in turmoil."

"You too huh?"

"Well, I doubt that everyone isn't distressed right now," Hanzai let out a tired sigh as he pushed up his glasses.

The two sat together in silence. Both of them wanted to find something to talk about but everything seem to fall flat. Well except discussing the motive that is.

"Do…" Haruka started once again. "Do you have anyone that's waiting for you outside?"

"Hmm?" Hanzai raised an eyebrow at the question.

"I have my grandmother waiting for me to be honest," Haruka started. "She's been sick since the start of the Tragedy. Luckily, she's still alive the last I saw her. She's the only person that I have left to be honest."

"What about your parents?"

"…They're both dead," Hanzai's eyes widened a bit in shock. "It was back when I came back home from school. I found them dead in our shop. They were killed in a robbery. The robbers were caught, but I was still grieved heavily for a long time. When I saw those people…I said some pretty nasty stuff."

"I understand," Hanzai said as he closed his eyes.

"So, grandma is the only person that I have left and I'm the only person that she has left as well," the florist looked down. "If I disappeared from the world, she'll be basically left alone."

"I see…" Hanzai sighed. "Well, since you told me your life story, I might as well tell you mine."

"Eh?"

"It's only fair that I do that," Hanzai placed his index finger on his lips. "Just think of it as an exchange of information."

"Like you, my parents are dead," Hanzai said as he took off his glasses. "They died in an accident back when I was a kid. I was taken in by a couple and was raised as their own child. They are quite important to me as well. They were the one who rescued me when I almost lost all hope."

Haruka continued to listen to Hanzai's story. "I had always been a curious kid back when I was young. It was that curiosity that led me to become a detective and also led me to the Detective Shelf Collection. I was mentored by one of the triple zero detectives in the DSC, Licorne. I'm only at one zero right now though."

"Is a zero in your number really that important?"

"Of course," Hanzai said. Haruka sensed a bit of pride in it like he was bragging subtlety. "The Ultimate Detective Kyouko Kirigiri was DSC 919 and she was hailed as one of the best detectives in the DSC."

"So you're better than her then?"

"I didn't say that," Hanzai cleared his throat. "She did quit DSC before she could reach the zero ranking after all. Perhaps she might have even become the fifth triple zero detective if she didn't leave."

Haruka gave him an unimpressed look to which Hanzai responded with an embarrassed chuckle.

* * *

**Location: Library**

**Time: 8:45 AM**

"Another unexpected character has been found in the library," Kasuka mused as he set his gaze on the peculiar occupant of the library. Genjiro sighed as he returned the gaze. "What kind of business do you have here?"

"Is it forbidden for me to be in this sanctuary of knowledge?" Genjiro replied with his usual chuuni tone. "Because I believe not."

"Ho…?" Kasuka smiled a bit. Perhaps he should talk to Genjiro a bit. He was a bit of an odd character after all. It might prove to be interesting. "How about you and I have a chat?"

"I have nothing to say to you."

"That's quite cruel," Kasuka said in a fake sad voice. "I just want to talk for a bit. You're always with the trio of actually skilled students and never spend time with other people."

"Even if we are to engage in needless chatter, there is no origin of connection for us to begin it in the first place."

Kasuka had to translate that to non-chuuni in his head. What Genjiro seem to be telling him, was that they have nothing in common to talk about. "Don't worry. How about we talk about whatever topic we want to talk about?"

"Meaningless chatter should never be engraved within my ears."

_Fuck you too, _Kasuka thought. Talking with people with delusions is quite hard. The fact that they don't try to live in the same reality as the others makes them quite the piece of work. Nevertheless, Kasuka was going to try to talk to him. He's handled much, much worse. "Well then, esteemed great ninja, why don't you tell me your backstory?"

"Hm?" Genjiro looked at him with a wondering look. Good, Kasuka's got his attention.

"I'm quite interested on how you managed to acquire your skills as a ninja," Kasuka said. The trick to getting a Chuunibyou to talk is to play along with their delusions. "Such a skilled shinobi like you must have an extremely good master right?"

"Hmph!" Genjiro huffed with pride. "Of course, a skill such as mine is only obtained by the guidance of one who's reached the pinnacle of abilities. The one that taught me everything that I know was my esteemed father."

_His dad was the one that taught him everything, _Kasuka translated in his mind.

"My father was a skilled ninja like I," Genjiro boasted with much pride in his voice. Kasuka noted that he was referring to his father in past tense. "He would always manage to defeat his enemies without breaking a sweat."

_Since his father taught him everything he must also be an escape artist, _Kasuka deciphered the escape artist's words. _Enemies must be referring to the stunts that they pull off. Damn this is hard._

"And thus I aim to follow my father's footsteps and defeat any obstacle that comes before me."

_He aims to become the greatest escape artist in the world._

"Say, black haired demon," Kasuka flinched a bit. He did not expect to be referred to as a demon. "Where is your companion? The woman who comes from the world of cyber, born from human knowledge?"

_Oh, he's talking about Klara, _the psychologist translated. "I left her on one of the tables with the laptops. We're actually almost finished with it."

"Hmmm," the self-proclaimed ninja narrowed his eyes. "Are you not afraid that one might and take your companion and make her theirs? Not only that, they might even make her unravel everything about you."

"No I'm not worried," Kasuka replied as he closed his eyes. "Even if Klara is stolen, she can just not answer the demands of her captor. She is my most trusted companion and I am hers. She won't just cough up my information."

"You trust her that much? You place your hope in a machine?"

"Yes."

"Naïve."

"Naïve? All of you are the ones that are naïve," Kasuka's eyes gleamed. His bangs covered his eyes a bit giving them a shadow and making them look like glowing red orbs. Genjiro tensed a bit. "Most of you are already buddy buddying with each other but when exactly did you all meet? There hasn't even been one week."

"Me? getting close with anyone? Don't be ridi—"

"Oh dear," Kasuka placed his right hand on his chin and gave Genjiro a mocking look. "You deny your thirst for friendship. But your craving for companionship is shown by how much you want to fit in with them. How cute."

"T-The strong should band together—"

"Eh? But aren't you weak?" Kasuka smiled. "I've already read you to be honest and I have a good grasp on your real personality. You're using that chuunibyou persona as a coping mechanism right? After all—"

Kasuka felt a breeze pass his cheek. Genjiro had thrown a punch which was only a couple of inches away from hitting him. Kasuka smiled as he looked at Genjiro in the eyes. The red-eyed boy was met by a glare of similar color. "Silence."

Kasuka chuckled and raised his hands. "Alright, I'm going to shut up now."

The escape artist walked past him in a hurry. Kasuka chuckled and pushed up his glasses as he watched the other red-eyed boy walk away.

* * *

**Location: Theatre**

**Time: 9:35 AM**

"Well this is a surprise," Nemesis commented as she saw the lone figure in the theatre. She wasn't accompanied by Sayuki, as the actress told her that she had some things to do. It was odd but Nemesis considered it a bit refreshing. "I didn't think I would see you here and definitely not alone."

The figure turned towards the mafia boss. It was Petrove. The tall girl flinched a bit when she saw her and tried to get away but Nemesis raised a placating hand. "Relax. There's no need to worry, I won't bite."

The mountain climber looked hesitant at first but took a seat once again. Nemesis decided to seat three seats away from Petrove as her presence might make the other girl uncomfortable. "Why are you here right now?"

"U-um well," Petrove started fidgeting a bit. Her interactions with the other occupants were limited to Kasuka and Haruka. She was comfortable with them but the same couldn't be said for the rest of the occupants. She was still nervous and wary around them.

"Don't worry," Nemesis reassured as she adjusted her hat a bit. "I won't bite."

Petrove contemplated a bit before nodding her head. "I-I was just l-looking around here. I-I've done my morning exercises and I've listen to some relaxing music as said in Kasuka's notebook so I thought I might take a little break."

"Oh I see," Nemesis nodded her head in understanding. "Why here though? You could easily relax in the flower garden and it's not that far from the rooms."

"I umm…" the mountain climber blushed a bit as she looked to the side. "Well it's…"

Nemesis figured that if she let Petrove do the explaining, it's going to take a bit of a while. So the mafia boss racked her head up a bit and tried to figure out the reason on why the mountain climber was here. "Could this be about the party yesterday?"

"Eh!?" Petrove yelped in surprise. Nemesis got the bingo, it seems. The Russian girl blushed as she fiddled with her hair a bit. "I, um, kind of enjoyed the party last night. It made me kind of forget our situation a bit. It really was depressing when the ugly bear suddenly decided to rear its ugly head."

"Ho?" Nemesis smiled a bit. "Seems like someone's gotten a boost in confidence, you're openly insulting something."

"I guess so," Petrove fidgeted a bit. "I think Kasuka and Haruka are to thank for that, mostly Kasuka but Haruka is also kind."

"Perhaps," Nemesis stood up. She tipped her hat down a bit. "I wouldn't place my trust on a bunch of strangers though."

"Eh?" Petrove tilted her head in wonder but it seems that Nemesis wasn't listening anymore.

"The fact that someone who's very close to you can betray you…" Nemesis gritted her teeth as she narrowed her eyes. She remembered something rather unpleasant. She shook her head to make it go away. The mafia boss turned back towards Petrove and gives her a sad smile. "Forget about what you heard and saw please."

Before Petrove could ask why, the raid haired boss was already walking away.

* * *

**Location: Kitchen**

**Time: 11:45 AM**

"Hello," Kenta said a bit nervous as he greeted the chocolatier. Ella looked up a bit before continuing in mixing the ingredients for her chocolate. The event organizer smiled and went over to the chocolatier. The chocolatier once again looked up to the other occupant, this time in wonder. "May I join you?"

"What do you want?" The chocolatier said, again turning back to the chocolate that she was making.

"Nothing really," Kenta rubbed the back of his head.

"Then leave," the Kansas girl dismissively. To be honest it kind of hurt Kenta a bit.

"Come on, don't be like that," Kenta said wryly. "How about a little chat?"

"I prefer not to be bothered while making chocolate," Ella said in an attempt to close the conversation. Kenta racked his head to get some topic before coming to a conclusion.

"How about I help you in making chocolate?" Ella gave him a puzzled look to which the event organizer replied with a smile. "I'm quite interested in making chocolate seeing how you like it so much."

"Are you trying to flirt with me?"

"W-what? Nothing of that sort!" Kenta frantically waved his arms in an attempt to deny the allegation. "I'm just really interested."

"I see," Ella said as she placed a chocolate covered finger on her lips. "Perhaps I can let you help but please promise that any recipe that you see in this room will not be leaked to the outside."

Kenta raised an eyebrow at the other but nodded his head anyway. "Alright."

"Now then, take of your suit and put on an apron. It looks very expensive," Ella ordered as she pointed towards the aprons hanging by the large cauldron. Kenta was quite surprised at the size of the cauldron but said nothing as he took one of the aprons hanging. The apron was black and white with the face of the original kuma, Monokuma.

_Don't they have anything else other than this? _Kenta was a bit uncomfortable wearing the mascot of Ultimate Despair.

"Seems that you're ready," Ella stated to which Kenta nodded. "I'm not one to go easy on failures."

"Don't worry I can handle it!" Kenta said with a thumbs up and a smile.

After that, the two started to work in making some chocolate. As it turns out, Kenta couldn't handle it. He made some errors such as using too much sugar, less salt to balance the flavor causing the product to become too sweet. There was also that moment when Kenta added an ingredient to be used later.

Needless to say, Ella was quite annoyed. The glare that she was giving Kenta would've been straight up a yandere manga where the yandere girl was about to kill. Nice boat.

"This is quite sad," Ella said coldly causing Kenta to awkwardly scratch the back of his ear. "The event organizer is quite disorganized when doing other things."

"Ahaha, ha…" Kenta laughed awkwardly only to deflate when Ella still fixed her glare at him. "S-sorry, I'm more of a person who gives instructions so I'm not used to being the one being given them."

"I see," Ella closed her eyes as she looked at the mess he made. "I guess you should leave before you make a bigger mess in the kitchen."

"E-eh? But—"

"But what?"

"You always seem so lonely to be honest," Kenta said. "You're almost always here in the kitchen refusing to interact with any of us. I know that most of us had just met the other day and it's hard to trust in other people in a situation like this but it's also not the best thing to isolate yourself from the others. So why don't the two of us become friends?"

Ella's eyes widened a bit at Kenta's statement. The event organizer blushed and scratched his cheek shyly. The chocolatier let out a wry sigh. "It's kind of hard for me to trust in people but…I think I might give you a chance."

"Really? Alright!" Kenta pumped his fist and grinned. Ella just replied with a small smile.

The two were actually being watched by another person who was just around the door. The person grinned before making their presence known.

"Hello!" Sayuki cheerfully greeted. Kenta jumped at the sudden appearance of the actress nearly knocking out the ingredients and utensils on the table. "Am I interrupting something?"

_Yes you were, _Kenta thought but decided not to say it to be polite.

"What do you need?" Ella asked the new arrival.

"Well, it's nothing much," Sayuki grinned. "I was just hoping that we girls could spend some time in the baths later tonight."

"Eh?" The chocolatier tilted her head in confusion.

"I'm sure we all need to relax and take a break sometime so why don't we relax at the baths tonight?" Sayuki suggested with a huge smile. "I've already told most of the other girls have already agreed so what about you, Ella?"

Ella thought about it for a bit. Kenta, however, suggested an answer for her. "I think you should go with them later."

The Kansas girl raised an eyebrow at him and Kenta continued. "You should take a break for a while. You've been kind of working hard so why not make some time and relax? It would also be a good way to build a relationship with the other girls."

The Supreme Chocolatier thought about it again before nodding her head slowly. "I guess I can make some time later."

"Okay then!" Sayuki cheerfully said. "Let's all meet up at 8:00 PM after Dinner."

The actress turned towards Kenta and gave him a smile. The smile was not as friendly as it was malicious. "Girls only. If any of you guys tries to take a peep, I assure you I was tought multiple CQC."

Kenta gulped and raised his hands. "Y-yeah, I got it."

"Well," Sayuki turned around to leave. "I'll be going! You two continue whatever you were doing a while ago!"

Sayuki left with a smile. Kenta noticed that this time the smile was sly and mostly directed at him. Kenta felt like Sayuki found a new target to tease and he was not happy that it was him.

* * *

**Location: Storage Room/Store**

**Time: 5:00 PM**

Kasuka was currently rolling the gacha when he felt a presence behind him. Kasuka smiled as he turned around. It was Kazuma. Kasuka waved a hand towards the electronic musician. "Hello, Kazuma. What would you be doing in a place like this?"

"Nothing important," Kazuma replied to the black haired boy. "I was just going to look if they have something here that will pique my interest."

"Ho?" Kasuka raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps something music related," Kazuma explained as he looked around the storage room. "I never actually noticed it before but this place is pretty large."

Kasuka nodded his head. The room didn't seem pretty large at first but that was because of all the stuff there. There were even some other things at the back just hidden by the rest. It was kind of like a maze really.

"So," Kasuka's attention was brought back to the present by Kazuma's voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Rolling the gacha once more."

"You're really starting to obsess with that thing."

"I'm not using real money so I don't care," Kasuka shrugged his shoulders.

"What have you won though?" Kazuma questioned the red-eyed boy.

"Well nothing much," Kasuka replied with a sigh. "I tried winning that escape switch but instead all I got were some dolls and other stuff. Though there are some interesting prizes like magnetic gloves and all sorts of stuff, so it's kind of exciting. You don't know what to expect here after all."

"Well we didn't expect to get trapped here and forced to kill each other or get threatened by getting erased," Kazuma said with a wry smile.

"Well that's true," Kasuka chuckled. "Though I am pleased that there are so many unique people here, you rarely have an opportunity to have such a variety of colors within one place."

"I guess you're kind of right about that," the electronic musician replied. "I wonder what hope do you all have hidden within yourselves."

"Hope?"

"Yes," Kazuma said as he spread out his arms. "It's the most wonderful existence in this world. It gives people courage and strength to rise up to any challenge and move forward."

Kasuka smiled as he let the other boy continue. Kazuma frowned as he looked up to the ceiling, as if to think about something. "That's why despair shouldn't exist. It's but an abhorrent feeling that blocks the path of everyone. It brings nothing but suffering and tragedy."

"Is that so?" Kasuka said as he looked at Kazuma. The other boy returned his gaze, this time there was an odd look in his eyes. "I believe that it doesn't matter in the long run. It's the people who matter."

Kazuma gave him a questioning look. "Both Hope and Despair are just a driving force of nature. They're not interesting. The people who are involved in the conflict are the ones that are truly interesting."

"I don't quite follow."

"An example is Junko Enoshima," Kasuka explained. Kazuma's eyes narrowed at the mere mention of the name. "Junko Enoshima was the one that kickstared The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History or Tragedy for short, if you don't want a mouthful of words. It's awful, yes. It was despair inducing, yes. But the fact that a high school girl managed to reduce the world to a near death state is worthy of awe."

"Despair is never worthy of awe," Kazuma glared at the psychologist who smile in return.

"That's not the only example that I have," the red-eyed boy placed a finger to his lips. "There are people who pursuits hope in such a distorted way. There are people who murdered the Despairs for the sake of hope. But why call an act such as barbaric as murder Hope? Is it not fit to call it despair instead? I believe that hope is also not all good as those who are in blind pursuit of it ends up being down in despair."

Kazuma and Kasuka had a brief staredown before the latter smiled darkly and decided to walk past the musician. "But we're all entitled to our own opinions. Let's just forget this conversation now, shall we?"

With those parting words, Kazuma was left alone in the room. Kazuma pondered the other boy's words as he stood in the room.

"_I believe that hope is also not all good as those who are in blind pursuit of it ends up being down in despair."_

Kazuma looked at his hand before clenching it.

_You're wrong. Hope is the one thing that this world needs._

* * *

**Location: Baths**

**Time: 8:00 PM**

Haruka arrived at the baths at the exact time that Sayuki had mentioned. Sayuki, Nemesis, and Amamiya were already there. Amamiya and Nemesis were conspicuously far apart from each other and Sayuki stealing some back-forth glances between the two. It seems that she also sensed the tension in the air.

"Hey," Haruka greeted to ease the tension a bit.

[Hello]

"Ciao."

_No good huh, _Haruka sweatdropped. She made her way to Sayuki's side and mimicked the actress in observing the duo. Haruka leaned over and whispered. "What's going on?"

"I don't know myself," Sayuki replied. Haruka noted that she didn't respond with her usual tone or refer to herself as the Cosmic Queen. "Perhaps they actually knew each other before all of this?"

"That's a possibility," Haruka whispered back to the actress. "What should we do?"

"Well there's nothing that we can do but wait this out," Sayuki sighed in resignation. "Nemi rarely exerts this kind of aura."

The two waited for a few more minutes but it still felt like hours before the others arrived. It seemed that Sayuki had managed to convince all of the girls to come as even Naomi and Ella was there. Haruka greeted Petrove as she came who greeted her back.

"Well then," Sayuki said enthusiastically. "Since we're all here why don't we all get ready?"

Sayuki's words seemed to stir the others and they began preparing for their 'bonding time' as Sayuki called it. Some were taking their clothes of normally while others were a bit slower in doing so. Most minded their own business while others checked out the other girls' skin.

"Whoa!" Sayuki exclaimed as she looked at Haruka. "I didn't notice it before because of your clothes but those are quite large!"

"W-what?" Despite the fact that they were all girls here, Haruka instinctively raised her arms to cover her chest.

"These are some rather large melons," Sayuki smirked as she groped Haruka from behind causing the florist to squeak a bit. Haruka also felt her breast press against her back as she did so. The actress squeezed a bit eliciting another squeak from Haruka. "And They're soft too!"

"S-Sayuki s-stop it," Haruka tried to sound annoyed but it was a rather weak reply due to the other girl fondling her chest.

"I want to but I can't!" The other girl teased. "They feel so good."

The other girls had varying reactions to what was happening.

Petrove was trying to cover her eyes with her hands but peeked through her fingers.

Amamiya just closed her eyes and sighed.

Ella and Tohka were indifferent.

Naomi looked a bit annoyed.

"Sayuki," Nemesis called out having finished her preparations. Only a white towel covered her body and the braid on the left side of her hair was undone. "You're bothering the others and if you keep that up, we're gonna get delayed."

"Ahaha," Sayuki giggled apologetically but Haruka felt like she didn't mean it. "Sorry."

The girls eventually managed to finish their preparations and went inside the baths. It was a rather large baths, kind of what's seen in some fancy movies about rich people. There was even a fountain inside. Steam rose from the baths but the water's temperature was just right as all of them noted when they finally dipped into the water. All of them sighed in relaxation at the same time.

Haruka felt a rather intense stare and saw Sayuki once again staring at her or more specifically, her chest.

"W-what?" Haruka instinctively backed away but Sayuki moved closer.

"They're floating," Haruka backed away but again but Sayuki reached out and poked the oversized breasts causing them to sway in the water.

"Stop it," Haruka said firmly this time as the girl wasn't groping her thus giving her focus.

"Aaaww," Sayuki pouted and blew bubbles on the water. "You're no fun."

"I'm so sorry that I don't want to be molested," Haruka said with half-opened eyes and a sarcastic tone.

After Sayuki stopped her teasing, the baths was filled with silence with only the sound of the fountain's running. The atmosphere was relaxing and perfect.

"Let's have some girl's talk!" Sayuki said cheerfully. The other girls looked at her questioningly. "Like which one of the boys do you like?"

Most other girls immediately blushed. Even Tohka and Ella had a faint blush on their faces. The only one who didn't even flinch was Nemesis who was only focused on relaxing. Sayuki grinned from the varying reactions. "Well?"

"Nope," Naomi said quickly as she turned away to hid her blush. "None of them."

"Yes, yes. We all know you like Kasuka," Sayuki said dismissively causing the enigmatologist to sputter and make some non-coherent noises. "Anyone else?"

"None," Haruka replied.

"Well then," Sayuki grinned. "Let's go down the Yuri instead."

The statement caused everyone except Petrove to sputter.

"Yuri?" Petrove asked innocently.

"It's girls loving girls," Sayuki said cheerfully.

"Eh!?" Petrove blushed before submerging her mouth into the water. "Bhult Grirlsh chan't lhove grirlsh!"

"Girls can't love girls? Don't be silly," Sayuki laughed. "Of course girls can love girls! It's the purest form of love."

Petrove went wide eye at the statement and her face turned increasingly red. Nemesis sighed before standing up and going towards the actress. After reaching the other girl, she gave her a soft chop on the head. "Stop or she's going to faint."

"Teehee," Sayuki bopped herself on the head. "I was just trying to get the mood into a girls' night mood."

"We appreciate the effort," Nemesis replied as she dipped down again. "Or maybe most of us."

"Still though," Tohka said as she relaxed in the baths. "This is quite refreshing considering—"

"No, no," Sayuki said raising her hand to stop Tohka. "Don't say anything about that. We're all here to relax."

The actress smile once again. "Now why don't we wash each other's backs?"

"Sounds good," Tohka replied as she got out of the water with the others following her example. Sayuki went to Nemesis with the mafia boss threatening to kick her teeth in if she tried anything funny. Tohka went to the person who she was closest to: Amamiya. "I'll help you out if that's okay with you, Amamiya."

As she lacked a notepad in the baths, Amamiya just offered her a smile and nod of approval. The kenjustsu practitioner began washing the ninja's back. Amamiya would often make some cute noises as Tohka rubbed her back with her hands. Tohka also noticed the dragon tattoo on her back. She didn't think much about it as it was probably the mark of whatever ninja clan she was from.

"Hey!" Nemesis let out a cute squeak, unbefitting of a mafia boss. "I told you no funny business!"

"I couldn't help it!" Sayuki giggled. "I was just by how smooth your skin was that I didn't know where my hand was going."

"Are you okay, Petrove?" Haruka said worried as she washed the back of the mountain climber. "You've been trembling for quite a while after I started washing your back."

"Y-Yes, I-I'm okay!" Petrove's face was beet red as she stuttered making Haruka worried that she might be sick. "N-Nothing's wrong! E-everything's fine!"

The duo of Ella and Naomi was pretty quiet and barely made any noise, most likely because the two decided to just mind their own business and focus on what they were doing: relaxing. They relaxed and bonded for a few more minutes before the announcement rang out.

***Ding dong* *Ding dong***

"**Ahem," **Ōkuma's voice rang out through the whole area. **"Attention kiddos! It is now 10 PM. Nighttime is in effect. All running water will now stop. You're still free to do what you want but do be careful as somebody might just do you in!"**

"Well," Sayuki said as she got up. "We were just about finished after all."

"Yeah," Nemesis agreed as she put her towel back on and made her way to the changing room. "We should do this more often. I feel kind of refreshed and my mind's been cleared a bit."

"Let's invite the boys next time!" Sayuki suggested earning her some rather blunt refusals.

Haruka smiled to herself as they finally managed to get dressed again. It seemed that there would be no murder. Even if they were erased from this world, they could still carve their names back and make a return. No one will ever die in this accursed place.

* * *

**[Château Killing Game: Day 03 end]**

**[Remaining Students: 16?]**

**[?: 01]**

* * *

**Date: April 18, 2020**

**Location: Haruka's room**

**Time: 7:00 AM**

After Ōkuma's morning announcement, Haruka got up and got ready for the day. Despite the fact that nobody acted out on the motive, Ōkuma was suspiciously silent about it. Haruka expected the bear to throw a hissy fit to be honest. It would've been fun to watch.

As she made her way to the dining hall, she saw that there was a bit of notification in her Electro ID. There had been an update in the rules.

**If at least three or more occupants are in the same room with a victim, the body discovery announcement will play.**

Haruka did not like the sound of that. Haruka sprinted towards the Dining Hall. She opened the door rather frantically and looked around. The other people in the room: Kasuka, Naomi, and Yu were rather surprised by her entrance.

"That was some entrance," Yu whistled sarcastically. "Something wrong?"

"Oh," Haruka placed a hand on her chest. She might have worried for nothing. "It's nothing. Nothing at all."

"Didn't seem like it," Naomi narrowed her eyes. "Seems like you were in a state of panic."

"No, no," Haruka reassured. "Everything's fine."

"If you say so," Naomi scoffed and turned away. "Not that I care. You're not worth my time after all."

"I do believe I'm worth the time as you took your time to be a jackass to me," Haruka said dryly while she gave the enigmatologist a half-opened stare.

"Now, now," Kasuka raised his hands to placate the two girls. "Let's all be nice to each other, it's breakfast after all."

"O-oh yeah, sorry," Haruka fiddled with her scarf while Naomi huffed away. Haruka then noticed something strange in the room. "Where's Hanzai?"

"Hanzai?" Kasuka raised an eyebrow. "He's probably still in his room resting."

"This is Hanzai we're talking about," Haruka said. "He would probably always be the first one here for the meeting."

"You can't just assume that he wouldn't need a rest," Yu said as he twirled a pencil on the tip of his finger. "The guy's probably having a tardy day."

"I guess…" Haruka still couldn't shake off the feeling that something was amiss. She decided that it would be best if she made breakfast and it seems that the others with her also thought that as they got up from their chairs and walked towards the kitchen. Haruka got in first with Yu, with Kasuka and Naomi following closely behind.

As the last foot set in the kitchen, a haunting tune began to play.

***Ding dong, dong ding ***

"**A body has been discovered," **Ōkuma's haunting voice rang in their ears. Nearly causing their hearts to stop and their blood run cold. **"A Class trial will be conducted after a period of investigation."**

The announcement had stunned them. It took a few seconds before Haruka managed to find her voice again?

"W-what?" Haruka stammered her heart rate beating faster than before. "A-a body discovery announcement? Then that means—"

"Someone's been murdered," Yu narrowed his eyes. "The body must have been hidden inside the kitchen. Hmph, so that's what the rule update was all about."

Kasuka immediately turned and faced them. With a seriousness that was rarely present in his face he began to order the other students with him. "Alright! Let's split up and look for the body! Haruka and Naomi, you search the back part of the kitchen while Yu and I searches here."

Naomi didn't even complain when Kasuka ordered her around she immediately goes to the other side of the kitchen with Haruka following behind her. The two of them searched each and every place that could hide a body. Haruka looked around the kitchen before nearing the giant cauldron. As she got near it, she felt that it was rather hot. Haruka gulped as she took one of the chairs and used it to get to the top of the giant cauldron. She steals herself with a deep breath and yanked the lid off.

…

…

…

The last thing that Haruka remembered was that she heard a rather shrill sound as she fell back. It soon dawned to her that it was her own scream. A scream of horror caused by what was inside the cauldron.

_**Inside the giant cauldron was the body of Hanzai Shinpi submerged in boiled water that was mixed with his own blood. His arms and legs tied behind his back and his mouth was shut off by a tape. His chest was also caked in blood. His eyes that once held life was wide open and lifeless**_

Despair had claimed its first victim and it was going to claim them all unless they could find Hanzai's killer.

* * *

**[Château Killing Game: Day 04 in progress]**

**[Remaining Students: 15]**

**[Deceased Students: 01]**

**[?: 01]**

* * *

**[Author's Note:]**

**Dun dun dun dun, first death and it was Mama Hanzai. Though to be fair, he has been raising some death flags in the past few chapters. He's a good guy who wants to keep the group alive and tries to keep the group united in his own way. Flags that Twogami raised in DR2.**

**Thank you to all my readers and special thanks to MudkipOfDespair for beta reading this chapter!**

* * *

**[Review Section:]**

_**pokemansuperallstar:**_

_careful with the shipping, you never know who's going to die next_

_**Crit Fail**_

_Thanks, I really wasn't sure if the motive was despairing enough so hearing that makes me happy._

_**gamergirl101**_

_It wasn't really the best encounter._

_**Sparten2121**_

_Everyone here is a good boy! I think…_


	8. 1: Investigation

**[Chapter 1 – a Song of Despair, All in Your Head, Investigation Period]**

**April 18, 2020**

**Location: Kitchen**

**Time: 7:15 AM**

The other people in the kitchen were all startled by Haruka's scream. They immediately turned to her direction to see that she was about to fall backwards. Yu immediately rushed towards the florist in unbelievable speed and caught her.

"Hey," Yu tried to shake the florist awake to no avail. "No good. She's out of commission."

Kasuka and Naomi proceeded to check the contents of the cauldron. Naomi covered her mouth in horror as she saw the lifeless body of Hanzai while Kasuka only narrowed his eyes.

"T-this isn't real right?" Naomi's voice was shaking, contrary to her usual haughty tone. "T-that's j-just a dummy right? S-something that Ōkuma made to scare us right?"

Yu settled Haruka down on one of the chairs and took a look at the cauldron. His eyes flashed briefly before shaking his head. "I'm afraid that this real. The Killing Game has begun."

"They took a page from Ishikawa Goemon's execution," Kasuka said as he pushed up his glasses. "How twisted."

"You're quite calm despite all this," Yu noticed.

"I'm actually quite shook right now," Kasuka said as he zipped up his hoodie. "But I have to keep calm or else I won't be able to focus."

The other occupants came running into the kitchen, with most of them haven't even finished getting dressed.

"What the hell happened!?" Kenta yelled worriedly as he made his way towards Kasuka's group.

"Hanzai's been murdered," Kasuka said simply.

"W-what?"

"Hanzai's been murdered."

"I-I heard you the first time!" Kenta shouted as he clutched his chest to regulate his breathing. "I-I'm sorry, Kasuka. T-this is just…"

"I understand, kiddo" Kasuka nodded his head as he looked away. "Not even I can believe it."

"H-Haruka!?" Petrove immediately went over to the florist's side. The mountain climber had even forgotten her fur coat on her rush here. "W-what happened to her?"

"Don't worry, honey," Kasuka said reassuringly as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "She's okay. She just…couldn't take the shock of what she saw. Though, I'm pretty sure she'll come to it later."

"Thank goodness," Petrove let out a sigh of relief before looking up towards the cauldron. "B-but why would anyone do this? T-this is just…"

"I guess one of us couldn't just let go of what they have right now," Kazuma said with a somber face. "However, It's not a matter of why did they do it right now. The real question is who did this."

"**And you're all going to try and find out in the trial!" **Ōkuma suddenly appeared, startling most of the occupant though Kasuka noticed the Kira didn't flinch as hard as she did before. The bear chuckled as he bathed at the glare of everyone present. **"Dear me, those are some harsh glare, kiddos! Even though I have a present for all of you."**

The self-proclaimed king handed each one of them a black and white tablet. The tablet contained information on the deceased Hanzai's body. **"Those are the Kuma Case Files! Those babies contain information on the body! If you're ever short on information you can always consult those babies to get yourself out of a bind!"**

"I see…" John said as he scanned the file. "Well then, you're not needed anymore. Get out so we can concentrate."

"**Oh dear, kiddo's mad," **the bear covered his mouth with his paws and chuckled. **"Well, you're king wishes you luck on your investigation. Please don't fail on the first trial, that would be really inconvenient."**

Before John could ask what he meant by that, the bear had already disappeared with a puff of smoke.

"Okay then," Kazuma said as he stretched his arms a bit. "Let's start this investigation."

"Whoa dude," Dave raised an eyebrow a bit at the other boy. "Just like that man?"

"We can't really just stand around doing nothing," Kazuma closed his eyes as he sighed. "If we don't find the culprit, we're all dead."

"He's right," John agreed. "We have to bring Hanzai's murderer to justice. We can't let them get away with this."

"Alright!" Sayuki said with a confident smile. "Let's solve this case! The hammer of justice will soon fall upon this vile and heinous criminal!"

"Along with Ōkuma's execution hammer," Nemesis smiled wryly.

"I'll stay here and guard the crime scene," Tohka volunteered, which made the other look at her. "The killer might try to clean up some mess that they didn't notice. I can stand on guard and prevent that from happening."

"But what if you're the killer?" John question as he narrowed his eyes. "You can alter the crime scene and then tell us that there was nothing amiss."

"If that's the case, don't worry," Yu interjected. "I'll guard the body with her. If she tries anything, I'll stop her."

"Fine then," Nemesis said as she closed her eyes. "Let's all split up into groups and find some clues elsewhere. Surely this isn't the only place within the château that's connected to the crime."

"Also," Nemesis turned to Petrove who was with the unconscious Haruka. "Take her to either your room or her's. This isn't really the most suitable place to be sleeping."

"O-okay," Petrove nodded. She then quite easily hoisted the florist onto her shoulder. "I'm sorry that I won't be able to help with the investigation."

"Don't worry, honey," Kasuka smiled and patted the girl on the head. It looked quite weird as they were almost as tall as each other but nonetheless it looked quite cute. "I'll just double my effort in investigating so you focus on taking care of Haruka okay?"

"Un!" Petrove gave him the brightest smile that she can give. "I-I wish you luck, Kasuka!" She said as she left the kitchen with Haruka.

"Heh," Kenta gave Kasuka a small smile. "To be honest, you're kind of like a big brother to her."

"I am a big brother," Kasuka replied. "By the way, Nemesis. What are you wearing?"

The Mafia boss had ditched her usual attire for a white sundress that reached her ankle. Her hair was a bit messy due to her rushing to the crime scene. Nemesis raised an eyebrow to the psychologist as if he asked a dumb question. "Do you seriously think I would wear the same clothes every day?"

"No but…"

"It was also getting a bit stuffy in those clothes to be honest so I wanted to change a bit."

"I see," Kasuka said. "Where did you get those anyway? The clothes that Ōkuma provided us were the same one as what we're wearing now."

"I bought some from the store," Nemesis replied. "If you have no more questions, I'll be off to do some investigation. Sayuki come with me."

"Roger that!" Sayuki saluted, rather happy that Nemesis picked her to be her partner. "I'll be your Watson, Nemi!"

"Don't make Sherlock jokes. Our Sherlock just died," the mafia boss sighed as they got out of the room.

"Heh," John scoffed. He gives the others in the room a big smile and a thumbs up as he walked out of the kitchen. "I'll also be doing my own investigation. Wish me luck!"

"I'll search here," Kenta volunteered. "The kitchen's quite large after all."

He turned towards Priscilla and offered a hand. "Care to help me?"

"Sure," Ella replied. "I know this kitchen better than anyone."

[Care to partner up?] Amamiya asked Genjiro who turned towards her and sighed.

"Though I would be against it in a normal situation, I guess I shall combine forces with you for now," the chuuninja said. Amamiya gave him a flat look but didn't say anything as they went out of the kitchen.

Dave rubs his shoulder for a bit. "Hey, uh, I think I'll go investigate on my own so see you guys around." After that, the bassist left the kitchen.

Kasuka looks around at the only people who are still available, Naomi and Kazuma. Kasuka sighed. "Well, let's get started with our own investigation."

"I'll help you out," Naomi offered as she placed a hand on her chest before giving Kasuka a small smirk. "Although I can solve this one on my own, I believe that the two of us working together would make it easier."

"Are you saying that we'd be unstoppable together?" Kasuka asked coyly.

"Of course, you and I are would be the ultimate pa—" Naomi's eyes widened as she realized his implications. She then promptly turned red before clearing her throat in embarrassment. "I seriously fell for that one."

"Haha sorry. I kind of want to lighten the mood up a bit," Kasuka smiled before checking his Kuma Case File.

**Kuma Case File:**

**Victim: Hanzai Shinpi**

**The Victim suffered multiple stab wounds on the chest. The Victim also suffered a strike to the head.**

**Time of death is unknown.**

"Jeez some helpful file this is," Kazuma said with a groan.

"Not only that," Kasuka said. "Without any time of death, it's going to be hard to get a solid alibi unless you were seen by someone,"

"Most of us were probably in our rooms," Naomi bit her thumb. "We're all unaccounted for."

**Truth Bullet: Kuma Case File**

Kasuka placed his Kuma Case File in his pocket before looking at the cauldron. "Hey, Kazuma," the psychologist called out to the other boy. "Do you think that you can help me move this cauldron down?"

"Alright," the musician replied. The two grabbed the cauldron by the side and heaved with all their strength. The cauldron was placed down on the floor so that they can take a better look at Hanzai's body. "Should we take him out of the cauldron?"

"Let's," Kasuka nodded.

The two grabbed the corpse at each side and got pulled it out of the cauldron. The corpse was still warm, probably because it was from a heated cauldron. Hanzai's chest was caked in blood and there were multiple stab wounds as the Kuma file had said. His hands and feet were also tied up with some wires.

"You're quite calm with all this," Kasuka remarked to the musician who in turn gave him a confused look. "Most would be freaking out when touching a dead body."

"I could say the same to you," Kazuma replied.

"I am actually internally screaming right now," Kasuka replied.

As the two talked, Naomi went to the cauldron. The cauldron was filled with water mixed with Hanzai's blood. The enigmatologist takes a deep breath as she pulled up her sleeves before plunging her hand into the horrifying mixture. Since she couldn't see the contents well because of the blood she relied on her sense of touch. Her efforts rewarded her with a rather large kitchen knife in the cauldron. "Hey, I found a knife on the cauldron," she said as she handed the knife to her partner.

"A knife in the cauldron, huh? Hmmm…" Kasuka examined the knife before turning to the body once again. He proceeded to aim the knife at one of the stab wounds before slowly plunging it. His action gathered, of course, gathered some attention.

"What the heck are you doing!?" Tohka cried out.

"Just checking something out," Kasuka replied calmly. He took out the knife and hands it back to Naomi. "I wanted to see if it really was the murder weapon."

"Still…" Yu narrowed his eyes. "You shouldn't try to desecrate the body more than it is."

"Sorry," the psychologist rubbed the back of his head apologetically.

**Truth Bullet: Kitchen Knife**

Kazuma studied the wire on Hanzai's limbs. "His arms and limbs were tied up so he wouldn't put up a struggle huh."

"Well, if his limbs were free he could've gotten out of the cauldron," Naomi stated.

_Was he really alive when he was put in the cauldron though? _Kazuma asked himself.

**Truth Bullet: Wires**

**Truth Bullet: Hanzai Boiled?**

Kazuma looked at the body for a while before noticing that Hanzai's head was actually struck with something. There was a slight wound on the head.

_This must be what the Kuma Files was talking about, _Kazuma thought. _I didn't notice it at first as the water probably washed away the blood._

**Truth Bullet: Head Wound**

Naomi was investigating the kitchen once again. She noticed something shining on the floor and curiously approached it. As she got closer, she saw that it was actually Hanzai's glasses. The glasses were broken beyond repair. The lenses were shattered and the frame was destroyed.

**Truth Bullet: Broken Glasses**

Naomi noticed something peculiar and took a closer look at the floor. She saw that there was a slight smudge of blood on the floor that had been wiped off. Probably to hide some evidence but the killer seemed to be quite incompetent when it comes to cleaning the crime scene.

**Truth Bullet: Smudge on the floor**

Naomi smiled as she felt like the investigation here was going well. She wondered if the others investigation was also going well.

* * *

**Location: Store/Storage Room**

**Time: 7:45 AM**

"You also thought of searching this place huh," Nemesis greeted John who was looking around the storage room. Of course Sayuki was right behind her. The two were practically inseparable.

"Of course," John replied. "Where else would the killer get some weapons?"

"Heh," Nemesis scoffed. "You can make weapons out of anything to be honest."

"I didn't need to hear that."

"Have you found anything yet?" Sayuki asked the baker who in turn sighed.

"None yet but I'm working on it," the baker said as he looked at the gacha. The rate up items was an SSR android, an SR cursed doll, and an R crystal ball. Who would want this shit?

"Can't you buy things here and not just the gacha?" Sayuki remarked. "Perhaps the items in the gacha could also be bought from the store."

"**That's right!" **Ōkuma appeared earning a groan from each occupant of the room. **"Though you can only buy the non SSR in the store. SSRs are rare for a reason after all."**

"So? It's not like that would…" Nemesis eye's widened a bit. "Hey is there a transaction for those who buy things here in the store?"

"**Hmmmm…Maybe, maybe not, t'is a mystery."**

"I'm guessing there is," Nemesis concluded with a sigh. "Can we take a look at it?"

"**Huh?" **the king bear tilted his head. **"Sorry but that's private and I can't just disclose information of the customers here like that."**

"Tch," Nemesis bit her thumb in frustration.

"**Though you can get the privilege of viewing it if use 10,000 points," **The bear said. **"Though I would still keep the identity of the customers private."**

"Good thing I never use these points then," Nemesis said. She still had the complete point balance of 10,000 plus the 1,350 from the daily points as she bought her sundress. Nemesis handed her Electro ID to Ōkuma. The bear took out something that looked like an ID reader and swiped the Electro ID on it. Ōkuma hands Nemesis back her ID as he chuckled.

"**Nice doing business with you honey," **Ōkuma said. He pulls out two pieces of paper from out of nowhere and hands it to Nemesis. **"Since I'm feeling generous, I'll also give you the transactions made within the gacha."**

"I see," Nemesis replied absentmindedly as she looked at the papers. "Thanks I guess?"

"**Oh finally! You're welcome honey!" **The bear looked ecstatic upon hearing that. **"Well, I have to go. There are things that this king needs to attend to!" **The bear proceed to disappear again with a puff.

"Hmmm…" Nemesis eyed the papers intently. "I see."

"What's in it?" Sayuki asked as she peered from the mafia boss' shoulder.

"Someone bought some wires, a tape, a metal pipe, and a switchblade from the store," Nemesis replied. "Though it says here that the one that bought them was an 'unpleasant guy'."

"Eh?" Sayuki looked closely at the papers. It was true. Unpleasant guy was written next to the items bought. "What could this mean?"

"Not only that," the mafia boss said as she looked at the gacha transactions. Most of it was filled with the words 'No, Kill them all' and 'Killing one's brother'. "This is pretty weird isn't it?"

"It's pretty weird how he hides the identity of the customers," John commented.

"Well, it's better than nothing I guess," Sayuki said.

**Truth Bullet: Transaction List**

"By the way you two," John eyed the pair. "Where were you guys when the murder happened?"

"Us? You want an Alibi?" Sayuki raised an eyebrow at the question. "Well, Nemesis and I were together for the whole night."

"What?"

"She spent the night in my room," Nemesis sighed. "She was insistent on it so I had no choice but to give in."

"I-I see…" John said with a wry smile.

**Truth Bullet: Sayuki and Nemesis' Testimony**

"Well, enough of that," Nemesis said. "Let's get back to investigating.

* * *

**Location: Trash Room**

**Time: 8:00 AM**

"Why are we rummaging the land where which unneeded is cast aside?" Genjiro said as he looked around the trash room.

[Perhaps there's a clue here that would give us the identity of the killer] Amamiya replied as she looked for clues. She eventually found a black notebook that looked a bit out of place in the room. She picked the notebook up and began reading it.

"_They've come for me huh? Perhaps they know that I've managed to piece together their identity. They've called me to the kitchen. Though this might be a trap, I can't let them get away with this. There's also the chance that I can get everyone out of here before any murder happens."_

[…] Amamiya narrowed her eyes as she looked at the notebooks contents again. It seems that this notebook was Hanzai's journal.

"It seems that someone challenged Hanzai to a battle in the kitchen," Yu narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. "And unfortunately, Hanzai lost."

**Truth Bullet: Journal**

[Let's go] Amamiya wrote as she went for the door. [I think this is the only thing that's important here]

"I feel it," Genjiro said as he covered one of his eyes with his hands. "My Discerning Eye will finally reach the Truth."

* * *

**Location: Kitchen Freezer**

**Time: 8:20 AM**

"Kind of cold in here huh," Kenta hugged himself as he and Ella look for clues.

"Don't be a wuss," Ella sighed. On Kenta's defense, He wasn't properly dressed yet. His tie's crooked and he wasn't wearing his coat. Though he was a bit surprised at how good Ella was faring despite wearing a sleeveless JSK dress. "Come on, I think I see something noteworthy there." She said as she pointed towards somewhere.

When they got near it, they were quite surprised that there was a puddle of frozen blood.

"Blood…" Kenta narrowed his eyes as he touched the puddle. It was already frozen. "Why is there blood here thought?"

"I'd like to find out why as well but I think we need to wait until the trial to get our questions answered," Ella said.

**Truth Bullet: Blood in the Freezer**

Kenta looks around the area for a bit longer and spotted a piece of folded paper lying on the ground. The boy proceeds to pick it up and began unfolding it. It seemed that it was a letter.

"_You're being a real pain in the ass. Come to the kitchen at any time you like after Dinner. I'll be waiting, Mr. Detective."_

Kenta narrowed his eyes. _This is already serious but it just go more serious._

* * *

**Location: Haruka's Room**

**Time: 8:30 AM**

Haruka's eyes fluttered open. She was back in her room. How did she get back here?

"Ah!" Haruka's head turned towards the source of the sound. Petrove was by her side and was looking extremely relieved. "You're awake! Thank goodness!"

"Was it all a dream?" Haruka held her temple as she got up. Sadly she got the answer from the forlorn look on Petrove's face. "I see…"

"Hanzai's really dead…" Haruka muttered.

"I'm sorry…" Petrove looked down.

"It's okay. No, actually it's not," Haruka sighed. "Hanzai was a good guy who was just trying to protect us all from the mastermind. He was so determined on not letting any murder happen. I think he was even prepared to lose everything if it meant protecting us, despite the fact that we've only been together for a few days."

"…" Petrove stayed silent. What can she even say? There were no words that she can give her.

"He even thought of a way for all of us to get escape."

"Eh? Petrove's eyes widened. This was the first time she's heard of this.

"Oh that's right," Haruka said. "He didn't tell anyone else. His plan was pretty simple. Bore the mastermind with the lack of murder."

"Bore the mastermind? But wont that make the mastermind just kill all of us."

"I told him that too but he was willing to gamble that they were going to let us go. Also in an essence, the mastermind loses the game they tried so hard to make. If they kill us, they'll just be a sore loser."

"I see…" Petrove nodded her head.

**Truth Bullet: Hanzai's Plan**

"**Ahem!" **Ōkuma's voice echoed throughout the château. **"Investigation time is now over! Come to the Big Red Door located at the North Side of the Château! Anyone late will be punished accordingly."**

"Ahaha…" Haruka laughed wryly. "I wonder if I'll be of any help during the Trial. All I did was sleep throughout the whole investigation."

"I'm sure we'll pick up some pieces during the Trial," Petrove assured. "Don't worry, Haruka! Maybe Kasuka can get us out of this bind!"

"Kasuka huh…" Haruka muttered. _To be honest, he's the one I'm most suspicious of right now._

Hanzai had suspected Kasuka to be in cahoots with the Mastermind and it just happened that Hanzai was the one who got murdered first. This might just be a coincidence and she was probably being paranoid but she still can't get it out of her mind that Kasuka might be involved with this. Her gut feeling was going crazy.

Haruka got up from her bed and proceeded to leave with Kira in tow. The hall was silent that she might be able to hear a pin drop. She found that she and Petrove were the last to arrive.

The air was thick. Haruka could feel the tension as well as suspicion in the air.

"Hello Haruka," Kasuka gave her a smile. "Did you rest well?"

"I'm fine," Haruka replied while cracking her neck. "By the way, where's Klara?"

"My phone's charging," The psychologist replied simply.

"Wouldn't she miss the trial?"

"I don't think Ōkuma considers her a student so I guess she'll be fine."

"Is that so?" Haruka closed her eyes. "Let's find the killer."

"Ooh. Excited aren't we?" the glasses wearing boy gave a wry laugh. "You do know what's going to happen to them once we've captured them right?"

"Execution…" Naomi answered for her.

"You don't really think that he'll…" Dave chuckled nervously.

"I'm pretty sure that Ōkuma would," Kazuma narrowed his eyes. "The extent of depravity that Despair can reach is practically a moving goalpost."

"The culprit also has to have been prepared to face punishment," Nemesis tipped the brim of her hat.

"I'd also prioritize surviving rather than worrying about some murderer," Kasuka sighed.

"**That's right!" **The bear arrived at the scene. The bear's grin was a lot more sinister right now. His single red eye glinted with excitement like he couldn't wait to watch them suffer in the trial. **"Stop worrying about your sir blackened. It was entirely their choice to murder poor Hanzai!"**

"You say that but if it wasn't for you we wouldn't be out here trying to murder each other," Ella replied with a slight glare.

"**Oh, you are all so mean. Always putting the blame on me," **The sefl-proclaimed king sulked at the treatment he receives from his subjects. **"I didn't force anyone to commit murder."**

"What the fuck are you saying?" Dave gritted his teeth. "If it weren't for that motive…"

"**So? It was only a push," **Ōkuma placed a paw on his mouth.** "Not my fault that you fell but enough of this. Let's proceed to the courtroom."**

The Big Red Door opened slowly revealing a long hallway. The occupants walked inside and kept walking for a while before finally reaching the courtroom.

The courtroom looked like it was taken out of a medieval movie. There were armours around the corner and giant chandelier above. There was also a cross behind the tall seat which was probably Ōkuma's throne. Sixteen podiums were arranged in a circular shape.

"**Alright!" **The bear appeared on his throne. **"Get to your positions now. Your podiums been marked with your name so come on and hurry up! You are now jesters and your struggles will now entertain the king!"**

Haruka wanted to say something but decided against it. She got to her podium and clenched it hard.

_Hanzai. Though he might seem distant, he cared for all of us. He might have cared for us more than anyone else in this room. He just wanted to save everyone and now he's dead._

_His killer won't be forgiven. Our hammer of justice shall shatter the deception that hides their betrayal._

_It's time to start the Class Trial._

* * *

**[Château Killing Game: Day 04 in progress]**

**[Remaining Students: 15]**

**[Deceased Students: 01]**

**[?: 01]**

**[Trial: Start]**

* * *

**[Author's Note:]**

**Trial is now on session! Now it's time to find out who killed our dear Hanzai! I'm getting excited! I wonder what secrets will be revealed in this trial?**

**As always, a big thank you to my readers and special thanks to MudkipOfDespair and StoryProducer214 for beta reading this chapter.**

* * *

**[Review Section:]**

_**Sparten2121:**_

_We shall find out_

**_pokemansuperallstar :_**

_Oh yes, the despair of sinking ships. I know it too. But for now, Hanzai's killer must be put to Justice!_

**_gamergirl101:_**

_The truth shall be revealed in the class trial_


	9. 1: Trial Part I

**AN: Sorry for the sudden change but the Trials will be in script style format because I feel more comfortable in that style when I was writing this trial.**

**Again I'm sorry for the change.**

* * *

**[Chapter 01 – A Song of Despair, All in Your Head, Class Trial Part I]**

* * *

**Truth Bullets:**

**Kuma Case File:**

Files distributed by Ōkuma to help in the investigation. It reads:

_"Victim: Hanzai Shinpi_

_The Victim suffered multiple stab wounds on the chest. The Victim also suffered a strike to the head._

_Time of Death is unknown."_

**Kitchen Knife:**

A kitchen knife found on the same cauldron that Hanzai was boiled in.

**Wires:**

Hanzai's limbs were all tied down by wires. Seems to have been used to prevent any struggle

**Hanzai Boiled?:**

Was Hanzai really boiled?

**Head Wound:**

A wound that was present on Hanzai's head. It seems to have been caused by a blunt force trauma.

**Broken Glasses:**

Hanzai's glasses. Found broken on the kitchen floor.

**Smudge on the Floor:**

A smudge of blood on the floor of the kitchen.

**Transaction List:**

A list that was obtained by buying the privilege to view it.

The items bought from the store are: a tape, wires, a metal pipe, and a switchblade. The one who bought them is "Unpleasant Guy"

The users of the Gacha are known as "No, kill them all" and "Killing One's Brother"

**Sayuki and Nemesis' Testimony:**

Sayuki and Nemesis were together the whole night until morning.

**Journal:**

Hanzai's journal. It was found on the Trash Room.

There was a peculiar entry on it.

"_They've come for me huh? Perhaps they know that I've managed to piece together their identity. They've called me to the kitchen. Though it might be a trap, I can't let them get away with this. There's also a chance that I can get everyone out of here before any murder happen."_

**Blood in the Freezer:**

A puddle of blood inside the freezer.

**Hanzai's Plan:**

Hanzai had planned to bore the mastermind into submission. If there isn't any murder, perhaps the mastermind would get bored and let them go.

Only Haruka knew of this plan.

* * *

**April 18, 2020**

**Location: Trial Ground**

**Time: Unknown**

_**Class Trial: Start**_

Ōkuma:** Alright**, **let's begin with a simple explanation of the Class Trial.**

Kazuma: We don't really need that. We already know how a Class Trial works.

Ōkuma:** I didn't say that you had a say in this, kiddo.**

Ōkuma:** Now where was I? Ah! Explaining the trial!**

Ōkuma:** You will present your arguments for who the blackened is and vote for the unlucky schmuck. Get it right and congratulations to the rest, only the blackened will be punished. Get it **_**wrong**_** however…**

Ōkuma:** Congratulations to the blackened as they successfully got away with their murder and the rest will be punished! The blackened will also have the right to leave the Château and escape to the outside world!**

Ōkuma:** Now that that's settled, entertain your king, jesters!**

John: We're not your jesters.

Nemesis: Can I ask one thing?

Ōkuma:** Sure go ahead, honey!**

Nemesis: What is that?

_Nemesis pointed at Hanzai's portrait placed on what was supposed to be his podium. The portrait also had some lines that said "Crime-scene – Keep Out" over it._

Nemesis: Is there a need for that?"

Ōkuma:** Well, our dead friend would be pretty lonely if he got excluded from the trial.**

Ōkuma:** So with that portrait he can still be with us even when he's dead!**

Haruka: You're sick.

Ōkuma:** Thanks honey!**

Kasuka: Well, enough of the pointless discussion. We need to get to the point on why we're actually here.

Naomi: Hanzai's murder.

Yu: Yeah. But where do we start?

Tohka: Maybe with the cause of death?

Genjiro: Hm?

Genjiro: I believe that the cause of Hanzai's demise is very clear.

Sayuki: Boiled like Ishikawa Goemon.

Amamiya: [Maybe but I feel like we're missing something]

Dave: Are we now?

Nemesis: Well since we're at an impasse we might as well discuss this.

Naomi: _Was Hanzai really boiled alive_. _Though it might look like that I feel like there's more to it. We'll have to clear that up._

* * *

**|NON-STOP DEBATE|**

**Make Your Argument!**

**Truth Bullets: Hanzai Boiled?, Kitchen Knife, Kuma Case File, Smudge on the floor, Broken Glasses**

Kasuka: Now then, let's discuss Hanzai's cause of death.

Genjiro: Is there really a need for that?

Yu: It wouldn't hurt to discuss it a bit, Genji.

Petrove: T-There might be some things that we missed.

Dave: **Hanzai was obviously boiled to death.**

Dave: I mean seriously that's kind of a fucked up way to go.

Sayuki: He went out like the thief, Goemon!

Sayuki: **Our culprit is quite an artist, don't you think?**

Haruka: Please don't compare murder to art. Murder is murder and nothing else.

Naomi: _Was he really boiled to death? I feel like there's evidence that contradicts that but what?_

_**Statement: **_**Hanzai was obviously boiled to death**.

_**Bullet**_**: Kuma Case File**

_**Fired By: **_**Naomi Yamazaki**

Naomi: **You've got that wrong!**

**|BREAK!|**

* * *

Dave: Whoa there, Naomi! No need to shout like that. I'm right beside you

Haruka: And yet you also shouted.

Kasuka: Enough of that. Why was he wrong, cutie?

Naomi: Don't play dumb, Kasuka. I know that you also know. In the Kuma Case File, it's said that there were multiple stab wounds in addition to a head wound.

Ella: I think I get it. The file didn't mention anything that relates to boiling.

Naomi: That's right. A strike to the head doesn't always kill a person, so the most probable cause of death is not boiling, but in actuality his multiple stab wounds on his chest.

Dave: I see. That makes sense. Why was his corpse boiled though?

Haruka: Probably to hide the fact that he was killed by stabbing.

Petrove: That makes sense. But what now?

Amamiya: [Let's move the discussion to the murder weapon]

Dave: The murder weapon, eh? Was there anything that could be used as a murder weapon in the crime scene though?

Naomi: Yes there is actually.

Naomi: _Yes, it was, without a doubt, that item._

* * *

**|PRESENT YOUR EVIDENCE|**

_**Truth Bullet**_**: Kitchen Knife**

_**Presented by**_**: Naomi Yamazaki**

Naomi_: _**This proves it!**

* * *

Naomi: Inside the cauldron that Hanzai was boiled in, I found this knife. This knife was hidden within the bloodied water of the cauldron

Kasuka: Ho… It seems that the killer used the bloodied water to try and hide the knife. It would make sense as they probably thought that no one would check the cauldron. Way to go, cutie.

Naomi: T-thanks.

Sayuki: Collapsed in one single compliment. And you were looking so cool too. Leading the trial and all.

Naomi: W-well then, let's continue this trial—

John: _**Hold on a second there!**_

Naomi: W-what? What do you think you're doing? We're starting to get some progress here.

John: What do _you _think you're doing? Why are you trying to mislead this trial?

Naomi: Misleading this trial? I'm trying to solve this case! How am I misleading it?!

John: There's no way that Hanzai was killed by stabbing… He was obviously boiled to death!

* * *

**|COUNTER-ARGUMENT SHOWDOWN|**

**START**

**Truth Bullets: Hanzai Boiled?, Smudge on the floor, Broken glasses, Wires.**

John: Hanzai was killed by being boiled to death! The knife wounds were inflicted to make it look like he died by being stabbed to death! Not the other way around! Either you're falling for the culprit's trap… Or you're the culprit trying to mislead this trial to escape!

**ADVANCE!**

Naomi: You're not making any sense. He was killed by being stabbed to death.

John: You're the one not making any sense. Didn't you look at the crime scene?

John: **There weren't any drops of blood there! **So if he was killed by being stabbed to death…**There should've been a mess of blood there!**

Naomi: _He does have a bit of a point. But he's not using his head enough._

_**Statement: **_**There wasn't any drop of blood there.**

_**Blade: **_**Smudge on the floor**

Naomi: **I'll cut that claim to pieces!**

**|BREAK|**

* * *

Naomi: Hanzai wasn't killed by being boiled. What the heck is with your obsession with that?

John: Man, you're really stubborn.

Naomi: I have proof after all.

John: Huh? What proof?

Naomi: There was a smudge of blood on the floor. It's safe to say that the killer wiped out any trace of blood so that we wouldn't know that Hanzai was stabbed to death.

John: O-oh. Haha. I guess you're right.

Naomi: Of course. I'm Naomi Yamazaki, a genius born once in a blue moon.I'm never wrong.

Kasuka: Careful. You're setting yourself up for failure.

Naomi: That will never happen. Well then, since the cause of death as well as the murder weapon has been cleared, let's begin taking alibis.

Kasuka: That's the problem. I don't think anyone here has a solid alibi. You could argue that you were in your room, but no one can prove that.

Naomi: _Is there really no one with an alibi? There might be at least someone._

* * *

**|NON-STOP DEBATE|**

**Make Your Argument!**

**Truth Bullets: Sayuki and Nemesis' Testimony, Broken Glasses, Wires, Transaction List, Hanzai Boiled?, Kitchen Knife.**

Kenta: So the problem that we're facing right now, **is the fact that no one has an alibi****.**

John: I was pretty much in my room for the whole night.

Ella: Can anyone prove that however?

John: Dude, trust me.

Dave: **That doesn't really solidify an alibi.**

Kazuma: Everyone's still a suspect. But don't worry everyone. Our hope will shine through and break out of this despair!

Kasuka: …Interesting.

Naomi: _Someone has to at least have an alibi._

_**Statement**_**: ****Is the fact that no one has an alibi****.**

_**Bullet**_**: Sayuki and Nemesis' Testimony**

_**Fired By: **_**Nemesis Noir.**

Nemesis: **That statement is wrong!**

**|BREAK!|**

* * *

Nemesis: Actually, Sayuki and I have an alibi. Both of us were together the whole night until morning.

Sayuki: Yup, yup! I didn't leave Nemi's side and Nemi didn't leave mine!

Kasuka: …

_Kasuka had an unreadable expression on his face. He then covered his mouth his right hand._

Kasuka: Nice, yuri.

Kenta: What was that?

Kasuka: Nothing.

Kenta: I could've sworn—

Kasuka: No. Thing. At. All. Kiddo~

Kenta: …

_Kasuka punctuated sweetly and Kenta was too intimidated to continue._

John: Is that really true though? What if you two are accomplices?

Sayuki: We can be considered accomplices but we didn't kill Hanzai.

Nemesis: And anyway, are accomplices even allowed? Will the accomplice even escape as well?

Ella: Why don't we ask the bear? I'm pretty sure that he has the answers.

Amamiya: [Will he give out a reliable answer though?]

Ōkuma: **Hey! I'll have you know that I'm a fair king! I don't lie… Okay, maybe I do lie sometimes. But regarding the answer to your question, only the one who killed will be allowed to live. The accomplice will be punished along with the rest. So if anyone here is an accomplice, feel free to throw the blackened under the bus!**

Nemesis: Well, there you have it. We didn't kill Hanzai.

Sayuki: Never doubt the Cosmic Queen, Nymphara Demura!

Kenta: Alright, we cleared up two suspects!

Amamiya: [Yes, yes. Just 13 more to go. Yay.]

Petrove: ...

Tohka: What's wrong, Petrove?

Petrove: Oh! I uh…

Yu: Are you perhaps the killer, and you want to confess your crime because your guilt couldn't handle it?

Petrove: H-huh!?

Haruka: Take that back! Petrove isn't the killer.

Kasuka: I must agree with Haruka.

Haruka: Petrove is such a kind girl. She would never kill anyone.

Genjiro: Hmph. Perhaps that kind girl was all just an act. She might have been a demon disguised as a frail flower to attract prey and devour them once their guard is down.

Amamiya: [Forgive him. He likes to look cool and use some flowery speech.]

Haruka: It's okay. Most of us are getting used to it.

Genjiro: …

Kasuka: Now then. What's on your mind, honey? It might change the tide of the Trial.

Petrove: O-oh it's just that…Wasn't Hanzai still alive during our dinner yesterday?

Haruka: Hm? Yes he was.

Petrove: Well after dinner. All of us girls had a bonding time in the baths.

Kasuka: Tell me more about that _bonding time _later okay?

Haruka: You're quite the closeted pervert, aren't you?

Kasuka: W-well anyways. Please continue, honey.

Petrove: O-okay. We were in the baths until Nighttime, and none of us ever left there.

Genjiro: And? It's not like that proves anything.

Naomi: …I think it does.

Genjiro: What did you say?

Naomi: Despite the fact that he wasn't boiled, the cauldron was still filled with water.

Kenta: And?

Naomi: Have you forgotten the nighttime rule? The water doesn't run during nighttime. But the cauldron was filled with water.

Haruka: Ah! Since the cauldron was filled with water that means that the cauldron was filled in before nighttime!

Sayuki: And since us girls were all together in the baths until nighttime… There's no way any of us could've done it!

Tohka: Oh that makes sense.

Ella: Good job, Petrove. Now the list of suspects just got cut in half.

Petrove: Ehehe…Thanks.

Kasuka: …I wouldn't say that.

Petrove: Eh? Kasuka?

Kasuka: It's just that there's one thing that you've forgotten.

Amamiya: [What do you mean?]

Yu: I believe what he's trying to say is that the cauldron was prepared in advance. By preparing that cauldron in advance, you wouldn't need to worry about the nighttime rule.

Petrove: O-oh. I thought that I actually managed to get a breakthrough.

Ella: No. Petrove has the right idea.

Kazuma: Hm? How?

Ella: I was in the kitchen for the whole day. Besides Kenta, who wanted to make chocolates with me, no one else came in.

Kenta: Oh yeah! That's right, the only people who were in the kitchen were Ella and I.

John: I-I see…

**Truth Bullet: Ella and Kenta's Testimony**

Kasuka: …Actually, that wasn't what I was going to say, kiddo.

Yu: Oh? Then what were you trying to say?

Kasuka: Just because it's Nighttime doesn't mean it's not possible to get running water.

Ella: What? But didn't the rules say there was no water during Nighttime?

Kasuka: It's quite simple. Do you all remember a certain peculiar rule? Though I guess it could also be called a system.

Naomi: A system…

Naomi: _What does he mean by system?_

* * *

**|HANGMAN'S GAMBIT|**

_**Letters**_**: EVRLEIPGI**

_**Answer**_**: PRIVILEGE**

_**Answered by: **_**Naomi Yamazaki**

Naomi: **I got it!**

**|BREAK|**

* * *

Naomi: Are you talking about the privileges?

Kasuka: You've got that right, cutie. The privileges are probably to promote murder. By using those privileges, it might be possible to bypass some rules.

Haruka: You're saying that it might be possible to get running water during Nighttime.

Kasuka: Yes. Now to confirm that theory, let's ask Ōkuma.

Ōkuma: **Oh? My subjects need my help? What helpless little lambs.**

Amamiya: [Give us an answer]

Ōkuma: **Well if we're talking about getting water during Nighttime…Yes you can. You just need to fork up 5,000 points.**

Kasuka: Well, there we have it. Since we got 10,000 points at our start in this Château, plus the daily 500 points, it would be pretty easy for any of us to get that running water.

Ella: What if some of us were unaware of that? It's not like Ōkuma gave us a list of possible privileges.

Kasuka: Even if we ask everyone here, the culprit can just lie about this.

Kenta: Is there anything that we can do about this?

Naomi: …Let's just move on from this topic a bit.

Haruka: You're right…We're not getting anywhere with this.

Nemesis: That's fine. The truth might get revealed during our discussion.

Kenta: Though what topic to discuss is another matter altogether.

Yu: We can try to talk about the things that were used for the murder.

Yu: Like the wire and tape.

Tohka: Where did they get those anyway?

Kazuma: Well I guess that's our next topic.

Ōkuma: **Upupupu…**

* * *

**|NON-STOP DEBATE|**

**Truth Bullets: Transaction List, Sayuki and Nemesis' Testimony, Kenta and Ella's Testimony, Kitchen Knife, Kuma Case Files**

Ella: The weapons that were used to murder Hanzai…Where could they have come from?

Kenta: Perhaps they were_** given to them by Ōkuma?**_

Kasuka: Maybe they_** improvised.**_

Naomi: I don't think that's it.

Haruka: Maybe they _**bought it from the store? **_They have a lot of supplies there.

John: Maybe they just had it with one of us is actually a serial killer with weapons on their person.

Petrove: L-let's hope not.

_**Statement: Bought it from the store**_

_**Bullet: **_**Transaction List**

_**Fired by: Sayuki Narada**_

Sayuki: **The Cosmic Queen Agrees with that statement!**

**|BREAK|**

* * *

Sayuki: That's right, Haruka! They were bought from the shop!

Haruka: Really?

Sayuki: Yep! Nemi used her points to buy this transaction list. The list had a switchblade, a metal pipe, wires, and tape. Two of which are the things that were used to bind Hanzai!

John: Was there any clue to whoever bought them though?

Nemesis: No, but there are some words that could be codenames.

Dave: Codenames?

Nemesis: They were "Unpleasant Guy", "No Kill them all", "Killing One's Brother". The former was the one who bought the items while the latter two were those that rolled the gacha.

John: So "Unpleasant Guy" is our most likely suspect. But who is this "Unpleasant Guy"?

Dave: Maybe it's Naomi. She isn't really the most pleasant person here.

Naomi: Hey!

John: Well, you need proof that you didn't do it.

Kasuka: Nao didn't kill Hanzai. There's no way she could've done it. It should've been obvious from the beginning.

John: I know you're quite fond of her but that doesn't excuse her from being a suspect.

Kasuka: There's already proof that she didn't do it. Didn't you listen to Nemesis?

John: Eh?

Kasuka: There are three different codenames in the transaction list. I'm one of the two who used the gacha. In fact, I visit it frequently. However, I wasn't the first one who visited it. The first one who used the Kuma Gacha was…

* * *

**|SELECT A SUSPECT|**

_**Selected**_**: Naomi Yamazaki**

_**Declared by: **_**Kasuka Kagami**

Kasuka: _**It's you, my dear.**_

* * *

Kasuka: Nao. She was the first to use it in day one. She even gave me the dolls that she both me and cutie used the gacha, it would make sense that "Killing One's Brother" and "No Kill Everyone" is either of us.

John: You don't sound so sure about that.

Kasuka: That's because… how do I put this? I have no idea on what was the codename assigned to me is. In fact, I didn't even know that there was a codename assigned to us.

Naomi: …

Kazuma: Is there something the matter, Naomi?

Naomi: It's just that those words or more like phrases… where have I heard them before?

Naomi: _I know those words… I got to solve this puzzle!_

* * *

**|HANGMAN'S GAMBIT|**

_**Letters: **_**RSAOOGEWS**

_**Answer: **_**GOROAWASE**

_**Answered by: **_**Naomi Yamazaki**

Naomi: **I got it!**

**BREAK**

* * *

Naomi: Those words aren't actually words!

Dave: Really? They look like words to me.

Naomi: What I meant to say is that those words are actually numbers.

Kasuka: Oh I get it. Goroawase right?

John: Goroawase?

Naomi: It's Japanese wordplay whereby homophonous words are associated with a given series of letters, numbers or symbols.

Naomi: Though it's not the best example, 4 can be written as _Shi _which can mean death. Now, to translate one of the codenames, "No Kill everyone", in Japanese, that's _Iya Minagoroshi._

Naomi: _I_ is one, _ya _is from _yattsu _which is eight, _Mi _is translated into three, _Na _is from seven, _go _translates to five, _ro _is taken from _roku _which is six, and finally _shi _which means four.

Naomi: _Iya Minagoroshi _can be read as 1837564.

Kasuka: As expected of Nao. That golden brain is seriously putting on some work.

Naomi: Of course. It's to be expected from a genius born once in a blue moon.

Kasuka: But in what way does it connect with the case though?

Naomi: I already have a pretty good idea on what they mean. If my hunch is correct they're actually…

* * *

**1: ID Number**

**2: Laptop Password**

**3: Hidden IV**

_**Answer: **_**1: ID Number**

_**Answered by: **_**Naomi Yamazaki**

Naomi: **This is the answer!**

* * *

Naomi: They're actually our ID numbers.

Dave: ID numbers?

Naomi: Our points are stored within our ID's right? The ID numbers is made so that the store system would recognize which of us bought things or rolled the gacha.

John: Hold on. Doesn't that mean we can find the killer now!? I mean all we have to do is show our ID to everyone, and find whoever has "Unpleasant Guy"!

Haruka: _Iyanayatsu… _18782

Kenta: Alright! Everyone please show your ID Number to confirm whether you are the killer or not!

Kasuka: There might be a bit of a problem with that. Our ID Numbers aren't showing right now.

Kenta: What?

_Each one of the occupants took out their Electro IDs and sure enough the ID number that was supposed to be at the top of our profile is currently blank._

Haruka: Hey, Ōkuma what's the meaning of this?

Ōkuma: **That? You mean me hiding the ID numbers? Come on honey, do you really think that I would let this trial be determined just by that? Why do you think I came up with the codenames? If made the ID Numbers available now, then that would mean the trial would end in a flash. You know how I don't want that.**

Kenta: I guess we were hoping a bit too much.

Kazuma: Come on you guys. Don't let it get you down. We've already gather a lot of information regarding the killer. With hope, we'll finally be able to reach the truth. I feel it!

Petrove: K-Kazuma's right! We can definitely get out of this bind!

Sayuki: Say… I've been wondering. Why was Hanzai in the kitchen anyway?

John: He probably went to have some midnight snacks.

Haruka: This is Hanzai we're talking about. There's no way he would do that. He was probably lured into coming to the kitchen.

Genjiro: I concur with that statement. Hanzai was lured to the cursed room which led to his demise.

Ella: Don't talk about the kitchen like that.

Kasuka: You seem sure about that.

Genjiro: Of course. My All-Seeing Eyes of Truth will never fail me!

* * *

**|PRESENT YOUR EVIDENCE|**

_**Truth Bullet:**_** Journal**

_**Presented by: **_**Genjiro Hattori**

Genjiro: **Fuhahahahaha! This shall clear the veil of blind confusion!**

* * *

Genjiro: This forbidden journal that was found in the trash room contained the following scriptures that prove that Hanzai was lured into the cursed room.

Ella: I told you not to talk about the kitchen like that.

Amamiya: [Genjiro and I found that journal in the trash room.]

Amamiya: [It says: _"They've come for me huh? Perhaps they know that I've managed to piece together their identity. They've called me to the kitchen. Though it might be a trap, I can't let them get away with this. There's also a chance that I can get everyone out of here before any murder happen."_]

Kenta: Ah! We also found a note that says: _"You're being a pain in the ass. Come to the kitchen at any time you like after dinner. I'll be waiting Mr. Detective"._

Yu: And this only came up now because…

Kenta: Sorry. It kind of got swept out of my mind.

Haruka: I see…I guess… I have an idea on who's the culprit.

Petrove: Eh!? Is that true Haruka!?

Haruka: Yes…

Haruka: _The only one who would say those words…_

* * *

**1: Haruka Hanasagewa**

**2: Naomi Yamazaki**

**3: Kasuka Kagami**

**4: Mastermind**

_**Answer**_**: 4: Mastermind**

_**Answered by**_**: Haruka Hanasagewa**

Haruka: **This will be the answer!**

* * *

Haruka: …The Mastermind.

Kasuka: What?

Nemesis: The Mastermind?

Yu: You're saying that the Mastermind of this Killing Game is the killer?

Haruka: Yes…If you think about it, Hanzai is very much trying his best to prevent any murder. He swore it as a Detective of the DSC. The Mastermind must have seen him as the biggest threat and wanted to eliminate him.

Nemesis: That could be the case but we have no idea who the Mastermind is or if they are even here in this Château.

Haruka: …It's possible that one of us is the Mastermind.

Kasuka: …Those are some bold words.

Haruka: Hanzai has even suspected one of us of being the Mastermind.

Petrove: O-one of us… but that's just…

Yu: Never mind that, who was his suspect?

Haruka: His suspect is…

* * *

**SELECT A SUSPECT**

_**Selected: **_**Kasuka Kagami**

_**Declared by: **_**Haruka Hanasagewa**

Haruka: **The only who could do it is you!**

* * *

Haruka: Hanzai's suspect…

Haruka: Is you, Kasuka.

Kasuka: …

Kasuka: Ahahaha… I'm sorry but what?

Haruka: You're the one Hanzai suspected as the most likely Mastermind.

Petrove: B-but…That's impossible! Kasuka's one of the kindest people here! H-he even helped me…He's not the Mastermind, I'm sure of it.

Naomi: Although I have a bit of a problem with 'the kindest people here', I'm inclined to agree with her. I don't think he's the Mastermind.

Kasuka: T-thanks you two.

Haruka: I would be inclined but you share a quirk with Ōkuma

Ōkuma: **Hey! I'm a unique bear! I don't share any quirks with anyone!**

Kasuka: W-what are you talking about? This is crazy… I'm not the killer nor am I the mastermind.

Haruka: The shared quirk is…

* * *

**1: How they refer to people.**

**2: Their behavior.**

**3: The way they laugh**

_**Answer: **_**1: How they refer to people**

_**Answered by:**_** Haruka Hanasagewa**

Haruka: **Give it up!**

* * *

Haruka: You refer to people the same way that Ōkuma does.

Sayuki: What do you mean?

Haruka: Ōkuma refers to girls as 'honey' and while referring to boys as 'kiddo'. Another one is the way they refer to Naomi, both of them refer to her as 'cutie'.

Naomi: …

Haruka: It might be a coincidence but we always have to be sure. So what do you say Kasuka?

Kasuka: …

Nemesis: What? Cat got your tongue?

Kasuka: …

Yu: You better explain yourself.

Kasuka: …

Dave: Come on, fucker! Answer us!

Petrove: K-Kasuka… p-please refute it…

Kasuka: …

Kasuka: …..

Kasuka: …Ha. Ahahaha…

_Kasuka's eyes were hidden by his hair but his mouth was still visible. It had twisted into a twitching smirk as he chuckled darkly._

Kasuka: Kuhaha…

_Kasuka had covered his right face with his hand as he continued to chuckle._

_And then, it let loose._

Kasuka: Kuhahahahahahahahahahaha!

_The psychologist had let out a loud deranged laughter that haunted those who heard it._

Kasuka: Hahahahaha!

Kasuka: Man, Hanzai sure is smart…Oh wait, let me correct that... Hanzai sure _was _smart.

Petrove: K-K-Kasuka!?

Kasuka: Yes, honey? What is it?

Haruka: So you really the Mastermind.

Kasuka: I remember that I was talking to Petrove and not you, but nonetheless I'll entertain that question.

_Kasuka raised his head as if he was looking down on them. The sense of arrogance was thick._

Kasuka: That's right, you plebeians! The one who organized this Killing Game is none other than I, Kasuka Kagami!

Kasuka: Now let me see how you plebeians shall handle this Trial! Will you crumble, or will you rise!?

_**Class Trial: On-Hold**_

* * *

**[AN:]**

**Ooooh boy... That was something.**

**I'm once again sorry for using script style and I truly am sorry for it. I thank all of my readers and I give a special thanks to MudkipOfDespair for being my beta reader for this chapter.**


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